Chapter 8: Bear hide & Bargaining

With our business done and with our perilous postal package safe in Roxi’s inventory, we were able to each grab a bowl of that stew the Bear and Beekeeper’s other patrons had been breakfasting on. I was really enjoying it too, until Roxi joked that it was lagomorph stew.

Even more embarrassing, Roxi had to grab Janus and make him swear the stew was goat, to stop me sniffling over my half eaten bowl as I tried not to break out in tears. Even more sadly, at that point my appetite was gone and I only managed maybe three more mouthfuls before Roxi offered to help me out. 

After she had already gone and had seconds. I’m already wondering if our haul from the bandits will be able to cover the cost of her appetite while travelling. Well what will be left of our haul after buying supplies and armor.

Which is why after departing the inn, we made our way down the village’s dusty street to the trade hall.

The trade hall was an open space twice as large as the dining area of the Bear and Beekeeper, with the same hard earth floor as the village’s street and a great thatched roof supported by twenty four tall wooden supports set in the ground to keep out rain. Only rain though, those in the hall were susceptible to any strong wind that may blow through.

I imagine in some larger villages and towns, there would be a marketplace along the mainstreet or in a square, but in Spot as it happens we were lucky to find villagers in the hall with wares to sell. Given the town's small size and relative poverty the villagers couldn’t afford to have people sitting around a market all day, everyday. Aside from the individual general merchant who held a store of varied products from the village and beyond, engaging in sale and barter with the villages and those passing through, most villagers only came to trade for an hour prior to sunset except on market days.

Like I said, we were just so lucky as to find it on a market day, when the hall was filled with villagers who can come in from their respective farms and workshops to sell, buy and barter.

Now you are probably expecting that Roxi took charge here and bought everything we needed, haggling down the prices where a bargain could be found and making sure we didn’t get fleeced or scammed?

Oh Gods no!

Turns out that while she knew a bunch about what we needed, she didn’t know how to deal with shops that didn’t have set prices and regulated standards. The big tough goth was a city girl where everything was sold by shops owned by big corporations. 

The bartering and negotiations was done by little old me. I mean who else had experience in aggressive negotiation, I had run a business in the sale and repair of stolen electronics out of a utility shed. I wasn’t telling her that yet.

That’s not to say I didn’t have help.

Roxi was pointing out what we needed and standing menacingly behind me doing her best to deter anyone who would try to shortchange or scam me. Honestly going by the occasional looks she was throwing my way, I think she was almost as impressed as she was baffled about where this surprise business skill came from.

Then there was Paph the orphaned Alrec cub who had not only managed to dodge his chores again, but had found us within minutes of exiting the inn. Paph was giving me a whispered rundown on the various villagers I was dealing with, letting me know which could be trusted, which couldn’t be trusted and which would try to shake free every coin I had but had products worth engaging in a savage duel of bartering for.

All said and done, we managed to tick off most of the items on Roxi’s list. We found packs made of leather and oiled canvas, bedrolls and additional blankets, rope, warding talisman, water skins, fire stones, a camp pot and pan, along with utensils, some ingredients and additional rations to round out the nutrition of the rations we already had, belt knives, a basic medical kit, oiled canvas for shelter from rain, warm hooded cloaks and gloves and pair of better boots for each of us.

“Done!” I exclaimed happily as I basked in a sense of proud satisfaction. All said and done, I’d come away from the cutthroat bargaining of the trade hall feeling victorious and in my element, having proved my value.

“You think you’re done do you?” Roxi asked, an eyebrow raised in wry amusement.

“Ummm yeah,” I replied confidently, we’d grabbed everything Roxi through we needed and few extras she’d missed and we would have missed if we’d left without them. Things you wouldn’t think of unless you had camped alot or had spent nights out on the street.

Hand shooting out to grab my shoulder, Roxi steered me back towards the trade hall, “Don’t think I’m letting you leave here without you getting some armor.”

Digging my heels in, I tried to resist Roxi’s powerful hold as she pulled me with her. It might have worked if she wasn’t a good deal taller and stronger than me.

“We don’t need to waste money on that, I made a mistake last time. I should have relied on my decoys and not moved out of cover or let my guard down,” I calmly explained, as I wriggled this way and that, desperately trying to break free of her grip. 

Casters do NOT need armor! Tropes and archetypes exist for a reason, I’m not going to wear shapeless leather or metal, caster wear tailored cloth! Enchanted fabrics, sewn into stylish, cute, awe-inspiring, spooky or hot outfits!

“Big sis, please!” came a child’s voice, as a pair of thin arms wrapped around my leg. Dammit, I had almost slipped free of Roxi’s arm around my shoulders. “What if you die again? What if Ruin keeps you? I don’t want that…” the bear cub Alrec trailed off, as he stared up at me with a pleading expression, his eyes wet with unshed tears.

Shit. I sighed. Why does an NPC have to be this cute? It’s too powerful. “Okay,” I relented, going against these two was impossible.

I might have surrendered, but Roxi was taking no chances with me. Keeping her arm around my back, her grip on my shoulder hadn’t even slightly loosened as she resumed steering me back towards the hall.

If I was hoping for amazing cloth armor I shouldn’t have bothered. The villagers were selling clothes, but nothing that provided any protection or magical benefits. Plate and mail armor was also out of the question, in a small village like this. The best they had was animal hides and cured or boiled leathers meant for hunters. Nothing special either, just a collection of arm guards to protect your forearms from the snap of a bowstring or the bite of a wolf or bear, gloves, greaves and small a number of leather ciurasses.

For each of us, Roxi ordered a set of boiled leather armguards and greaves. Then for herself she picked out a black leather cuirass and paid for it to be adjusted for a better fit. After it was altered to accommodate her chest I thought we’d be able to leave, but Roxi had other ideas. 

Roxi did not plan on letting me escape without a cuirass of my own, while she had been having her one fitted she’d been conspiratorially whispering with the leatherworker. While Roxi held me in place, the craftsman pulled out a grey leather cuirass about my size.

“Your friend has good taste,” the leatherworker remarked as he set the leather chestpiece on a bench, “Ursa arktos, taboo bear hide is hard to get and very popular among hunters. It’s a magic beast with an uncanny ability to move about unseen and unnoticed, more than one traveller or hunter has foundselves in the claws of a taboo bear they never saw coming. Saying their true name arkto is said to summon their ire. The hide if cured right retains some of that magic, allowing its wearer to more easily avoid unwanted eyes.

That and it is a particularly thick hide that once boiled, is remarkably resilient for its weight towards piercing and cutting attacks. You couldn’t do better in terms of weight vs protection unless you were willing to pay a mint for plate that is enchanted to be lighter or made from magic ores and alloys.”

“And how much will this amazing armor cost me,” I asked suspiciously.

“Well it is worth quite a bit due to the difficulty acquiring the leather, most hunters from the village supply their own hides and I just charge them for the labor and any additional materials. I’ve been holding this piece for quite a while, it was a commission from an out of towner passing through and they went and died out in the wilds before they could pay me, no one around here can afford it at full cost so I’ve been holding it close to two years,” the craftsman explained, sighing as if to suggest the customer had died intentionally to cause trouble. 

“I’ll knock down the price a bit just to get it off my hands and I knock off a bit more because of the rest of your purchases. Ten. Gold. Hawks. It would normally be about fifteen hawks, eleven gold hawks for the materials and another four for my labor and expenses, but for you, I’m knocking it down to ten hawks.”

Ten hawks. Fuck that’s expensive, not including what we had looted, it was as much as what we had been paid for clearing out the bandits and far far more than the potential reward for the Lagomorph quest. Too expensive.

“Deal!” Roxi said almost yelling, cutting off my plans to haggle down the price or decline before I had time to do anything more than barely open my mouth. I did open my mouth to protest, but I wasn’t allowed to go any further than a ‘but’, before Roxi silenced me with a warning look. 

While I reluctantly allowed myself to be poked, prodded and measured as the leatherworker adjusted the cuirass for me, Roxi paid and began the task of packing our new packs for the journey, leaving out the armor, cloaks and belt knives to be worn.

I certainly hope tailors are better with needles than leatherworkers, I’d been carelessly stabbed more than once as he adjusted the leather vest to better fit my small size and not restrict my movement.

Ever so often Roxi looked up from her packing in amusement as I emitted a pained yelp when a needle pricked me. 

Not funny!

How come she escaped getting bled out by a dozen stabs, is she made of stee- “Watch it!” I cried, as a needle dug into my armpit.

“Done!” the leatherworker announced as he tied off the stitch.

I’m free! “Great!” I grumbled, trying to be polite.

Making my escape from the thumble-fingered butcher of a leatherworker, I darted off to hide behind Roxi and my pack. 

“Thank you for the armor and alterations,” Roxi said to him, before pointing a thumb my way. “I think we best be heading off before her tail gets too out of shape. Going by how her ears are set back against her head and the bushiness of her tail, I think she is only a step away from hissing or swiping at you,” she joked to my chagrin.

“I AM NOT!” I hissed, snapping at her. Immediately I felt guilt grip my guts. Roxi had taken me under her wing, quickly becoming my guide and my friend, she was just having fun with me and also she had evidently been right. “Sorry,” I whispered, apologising to my friend. 

Roxi blinked as if surprised by my apology and flashed me a guilty smile, “No. Sorry, I went too far. I’ve been having fun teasing you to see your…  reactions.” She had mumbled a word at the end there too quietly for me to hear. 

“What?” I mumbled back, confused. Had I been making a fool of myself?

Roxi’s pale cheeks reddened, right before she looked down trying to hide it. It might have worked too if I hadn’t been shorter than her. “You’re just kinda unguarded with how you show your emotions… I mean I did first run into you when you crying about having to kill giant bunnies. That and your ears and tail sorta telegraph how you’re feeling. It's really fun to watch and so ador…” she said trailing off back into mumbling at the end.

“Get a room you two!” Paph’s small voice interrupted, “the Sisters say it's unbecoming to flirt in public! Sis, what does unbecoming mean?”

I looked at Roxi and her eyes finding mine conveyed her agreement, we’d talk on the road. Looking back at Paph, I wondered if he was too young for the birds and the bees. 

“Well Paph, you see…”