After leaving Ginas house, I made my way to the merchant shop close too the center of the Village next to the small communal tavern, that sells home brewed beer and sometimes spirits from the merchants. Well sold isn’t correct it was more a trade of favors and food for beer and some other food. I didn’t really see a point in all that, but the onetime I tried the beer they sell it tasted really bad I didn’t like it at all. Besides all the drunk shouting and singing just isn’t for me, too loud and scary. It really didn’t sit well with me how some people acted completely different in the face off alcohol some off the ones that avoided me praise me all of a sudden and some friendly folks shout at me out of nowhere. 

Thankfully the tavern is not my destination, I want to visit the merchants and trade this heavy sac off flour. The merchant building was different from the tavern, which was a small and completely sealed building. I and many others are really grateful for this it keeps the noise mostly inside and we can sleep undisturbed. The merchants’ store was small too, but, in contrast to the tavern, it wasn’t sealed at all in fact it barely had three walls. The front was opened up considerably by removing a big cover made from several planks. This way the passing villagers could look at the goods on display on the tables in the small building. The back was opened as well, but this time for the merchants to have quick access to their horse carriages  from the store. When I was still young, I asked my parents, why the people didn’t simply take the stuff from the traders, but apparently one off them is always on night watch, surprisingly he is stronger than the farmers from the village. When this was discovered the trust towards the traders fell even further, they were viewed as some sort of demons or witchers dealing with dark powers, well the would be thieve was shunned as well, he was one off the few people to leave the village.

This story in itself shows, how little the Villagers liked the merchants, and I imagine the feeling is mutual. It really makes one wonder why they still visit this place. The only thinks that they can receive as trades are flour, corn, some vegetables and the occasional rabbit, but they don’t even accept the rabbits because they are harder to sell, and they would rather take a lot off crops. They really are a little weird, but I am still glad they are here.

Stelling my heart for the big step I’m about to take, I walked towards the store. On the way a few kids playing on the side of the road spotted me and the volume off flour I’m carrying:” Hey folks, look at that. Isn’t this Merla, she must be on the way to buy her first jewelry. Let’s tell mum, she is definitely interested in this.”  Everyone shouted something along those lines I it was a bit embarrassing, to know that everyone would watch and judge my decision. The news wasn’t really that surprising though, it was expected for me to take this step now. First of all I had the appropriate age, in addition living alone as a child wasn’t that pleasant, a lot of people won’t take you seriously and some might not trade with you.

Under the eyes of a few off the kids’ moms, that were nearby, I stepped towards the merchant attending the store at the moment and placed the sac on the floor. “Well, hello, little lady what can I do for you. With the way the others are watching you, surely you want to buy some sort of jewelry from me. How much flour is in that bag off yours, let me see.” I handed him the heavy sac silently. He seemed a bit surprised by the weight, but I was too at first. “Oh my, that sure is an impressive quantity you gathered not many can bring that much, you know?”, he praised me.  “Thank you, it was hard getting that much. What can it get me?”, I replayed I was really proud off my achievement, but the way he had both hands in the flour annoyed me a little, this was another thing that wasn’t well received by the Villagers. The Merchants always fiddled with the crops we brought and would randomly change the value of our produce. It was really hated, but when asked about it, they only brought up some excuse about magic and being a base or something, well of course grain is a good base, you can bake bread out of it literaly the most basic meal. When confronted further the merchant just picked up two hands off grain and repeated what he just said, in a tone you would use to explain something to a child. It obviously didn’t help the situation, but in the end the Merchants didn’t budge and the Villagers could only accept the prices off the merchants.

I seem to be lucky though, as the merchant pointed towards a whole assortment of rings, bracelets and earrings. “Any one off these can be yours for this much grain, just pick one.”, The merchant proclaimed in an almost bored tone. They always use this strange tone when I or anybody else is visiting them, almost as all these transactions bored them and we are insignificant before them.

I was the same as everybody else I could only ignore his tone and bear with it, as there was no alternative. The merchant had pointed at all the available jewelry, instead of just a part of it. The others I witnessed very only able to select from a small number of samples. Me being able to pick one was a little lucky, as well as testament to my successful hunt. The jewelry selection that was available featured a lot of necklaces, earrings, bracelets and brooches. Normally the women and men to be would pick pieces, that are either neutral, or suit the respective other gender, of course there are exceptions every few years. Maybe someone wants to stay alone, or courts someone of the same gender, both are possible but raise a few eyebrows. For me the former was the case I want to explore the world and would stay and travel mostly alone for the foreseeable future. If I find a place to settle down, it would take some time before, I know someone enough to marry them. Furthermore, I have no idea who that will be. All the other kids were growing much faster than me and developed interests in each other before I even developed such desires. Thus, I’m really unsure, as to what I want from a partner, besides me not being his second choice and looking at my hair color weirdly.

For all those reasons I want to choose purely on my own tastes. I want an earing or a necklace both can be subtle, if you want to hide them, don’t hinder you much when traveling, like a big bracelet could. A brooch on the other hand can’t really be worn without showing it off to the whole world and you need to wear a coat or something similar to use it, both are obvious disadvantages. Normally you can only choose from the left side of the small table, used as a display. I however could choose from anywhere on it, so I obviously want one from the right side I don’t want to be scammed and an impressive piece will surely be of use in the towns, I’ll maybe visit in the future. On the more expensive section of the table there are a few pieces that cought my attention.

A necklace with a siler socket holding a light blue stone, most likely glass but it didn’t matter to me as it was really pretty, and it would be the same for anyone in the Village. The Merchants never said otherwise. The socket wasn’t simple, instead it consisted of small strings of silver winding around the stone in an intricate pattern, making up an enchanting pendant. Aside from this one, there was a necklace with a small pale pink gem in a socket that wrapped around the gem like vines, forming the shape of an elongated diamond around the round and cut gem in the center. All off that was made from a metal I didn’t know. It seemed to almost absorb a part of the light, making it a little darker than the silver of the other pendant, which reflected the light perfectly. Maybe it was a bit older and neglected, or it received this treatment intentionally for a better contrast to the pale pink translucent gem. It gave off a mysterious yet strong and elegant aura. In addition, I liked how the gem had a similar color to my eyes. Last but not least there was a set of earrings similar to the first pendant, but their socket had sharper edges making them look more energetic, than the graceful necklace but made out of the same materials. I really liked all of them so I asked the Merchant if I could take a closer look.

After gaining permission, I picked up the first pendant it was approximately the size of a fingertip, a bit larger than mine, and felt cold to touch, reminding me of the blueberries in the forest. The second darker piece felt like it was warm, a bit like the raspberries I found, and covered about two parts of my middle and index finger. The earrings behaved the same ass the silver piece and are a little smaller. The fact that the darker pendant was warm surprised me a bit, but not too much, as it was common knowledge for darker things to warm up in the sun and the necklace was in the sun for some time. The coldness of the other pieces could be attributed to the fact that they were made from metal, which can sometimes feel cold. In the end the warm feeling of the darker piece was my deciding factor, and I picked the darker pendant with the pale pink gem. “Good choice young lady and thank you for your patronage”, commented the Merchant, after I picked the pendant. He put it on a thin and dull silver chain, that was included and the same for every necklace.

With a proud smile I took the necklace from the merchants’ hands and put it around my neck it took a few tries, but my small hands helped me with the small lock. Instead of tucking the precious piece under my shirt, like I will do in the future, I placed it over it, to show it too the other Villagers, to show them I am an adult now and can make decisions even without my parents.

When I steeped out of the store, the others greeted me with impressed looks on their faces. “Wow, Merla this necklace is awesome, Congratulations on becoming an adult.”, one of the kids exclaimed. “Congratulations, how did you manage to get a necklace this beautiful? With your own hands?”, one of the women, who came over because their kids told them to, was skeptical. And the others nodded their hands in silent approval. It was viewed as shameful to use the wealth of one’s parents to make up for one’s inability. They probably suspected that I used my parents’ heirloom to buy my standing. Naturally not happy with their attitude I replied:” I was able to have a successful hunt yesterday, this is the result of my own abilities.” “Oh well good for you, I guess, good Job”, one of the women wasn’t convinced by my reply, but I didn’t want to argue with her. Besides it didn’t matter anymore for me. In a few days at most I would be on my way. The kids on the other hand seemed impressed and asked me with sparkling eyes about my hunt. Their enthusiasm made me smile, but I couldn’t tell them about my magical adventure. It would upset their mothers even more than my supposed cheating; magic was after all just a fairytale and the talk of demons, who want to lure us away from the village. Into the forest or along the roads, that are filled with bandits according to the stories. Well, we never got reports about bandits personally, but the merchants sometimes complained about them, and the Villagers adopted their stance because it fitted their own world view.

After personally witnessing the forest, I was intimidated by the possibility of bandits on the road, but the possibility of magic had a much greater allure to me. These were my thoughts while heading home to sleep there one last time and assess what could bee sold to whom.  

Schnelli

Hi there,

In this chapter we learn a bit about the Village as a whole. I have to asked tough was i repeting that she wants to leave to often? Each mention on their own seemed logical but how do you see it?

Well, I hope you had some fun :)