Dime a Dozen [Domestic]

The smell of blood filled the area around the butcher’s stall which showcased various cuts of meats of animal’s Roland couldn’t easily identify. He was in awe of the realism, he could even see flies buzzing around some of the meat that had been out in the hot sun longer, sometimes it was the small things that really led to such a deep immersion. Snapping out of his daze he returned his attention to the butcher. He was a large man, with arms as thick as Roland’s head, and a belly the size of a keg. On his chest was the tattoo of an anchor, and judging from the colorful jargon he used Roland guessed he was a sailor in a past life.

“Why not use the money you’d use pay us and just buy a new cleaver?” Roland asked regretfully hoping he hadn’t just talked himself out of a job. “Cuz it’s me best cleaver” The butcher replied, “I’ve don had-it since I opened up shop here, and she’s seen me through too many battles to give up on!” Roland shook his head not truly understanding but not willing to push the subject any further, “So how can we recognize it?” He asked hoping for more information. The butcher smiled as he began to describe it, “Well shelly is truly a beut. She shines like the morning sun, unda the bright light that is. Her handle is made of red oak, soft while durable, its strong than ya’d think I tried to etch my initials into the bottom of it, ended up just looking like some kind of lopsided triangle though.” Roland nodded at the clue.

“Any idea where it could be?” Roland asked already half knowing the answer, “Aye,” The butcher replied, “One of the lads around the stalls must have picked it up by accident, I’m not quite sure who, but I bet they got it for sale.” Roland smiled at his patron, “Very well I’m sure we can get this item back for you.” He turned to his companion with a smile and said, “I think it likely would be best for us to split up, and check each stall to see if we see it for sale.” As he spoke he waved at an invisible screen so he could display his username to his partner, causing “Roland Rutledge” to hover above his head.

@Tyris Ferrell

 

Tyris knew the local butcher quite well- after all, Felis naturally favored meat for their food. So he was greatly concerned when the man's cleaver went missing. It didn't help that, at first, the butcher seemed to suspect that Tyris himself might have taken it, though he didn't accuse the boy of doing so with malicious intent, and believed him when he denied the charge. The butcher was a kind man, in Tyris' eyes; he often gave him and his sister discounts on much-needed food. It was past time to repay the favor, so Tyris accepted the task of finding the missing cleaver, just as a man approached and offered to do the same thing. "You're going to help? Thanks a lot, sir. My name's Tyris," he said, reaching out to offer a handshake. As he did so, the game automatically sent a party request to Roland, just as if Tyris were a player himself. The game treated players and NPCs equally in many ways, including allowing them to join quests and form parties with players.

After listening to the butcher's explanation of the importance of the cleaver, and his description of its particular qualities- Tyris wondered if maybe he was a bit too attached to it- Tyris was addressed by the man, who suggested that they split up to search. "Sounds good," he said with a nod. "I could probably sniff it out," he suggested with a couple exaggerated sniffs and a grin. He naturally didn't react to Roland's name display. To him, it didn't look like anything at all.

@Roland Rutledge

 

Roland nodded at the younger catperson as he agreed to his plan, normally speaking he had most of is HuD turned off to help keep up the immersion, but Tyris’ reaction caused him to hesitate flicking it on for a moment to inspect the character. “He’s an npc.” Roland thought to himself as he looked at the boy’s title hovering above his head. It was a shock, but Roland managed to get a grip of himself swiftly before adding, “Great, your nose will be quite helpful I’m sure Tyris, the name is Roland, by the way.” He said it with a confident tone flashing the kid a grateful smile before turning towards market to the east judging the position of the sun, it was later morning meaning they had at least one or two hours before the sun reached its zenith. “Let’s meet back here at noon, eh?” Roland suggested as he began to walk forward to the eastern stalls.

The smell of fish, and rotting vegetables made Roland’s stomach turn as he pushed his way through the eastern market. It seemed that the eastern edge of town was near a larger river and the fish caught there, as well as the various roots and herbs growing at its banks, were sold exclusively on this side of the town. It made sense given that whatever species they caught had an extremely potent odor. As the adventurer walked to each stall, checking for the knife in question he couldn’t help but let his mind wander. All of the quests he had been on up until this point had been with other adventurers he hadn’t expected an NPC to join. Granted, he hadn’t done a ton of quests, as he was still relatively a new player, but still it seemed odd. “I wonder if this is the same AI system that the world seed games use, they said some players couldn’t tell the difference between NPCs and Player Characters at time.” Roland thought out loud as he passed by yet another fish cart. Still Tyris’ actions seemed more human than Roland had thought possible, but then again he had limited interaction with him. Pushing the thoughts aside he resumed his search.

A few hours passed as he interrogated the various merchant stalls, very few seemed willing to talk with him after it was clear he was uninterested in buying their goods. Several even had chased him away brandishing their own fillet or other cutting instrument. Most of the fish mongers didn’t use cleavers, and the vegetable merchants rarely used knives at all. In the end Roland hadn’t been able to find so much as a clue for the location of the butcher’s cleaver and headed back to the butcher’s stand hoping Tyris had better luck.

@Tyris Ferrell

 

Tyris waved to Roland before running off to get started checking the stalls on the west side of the market. The first few had nothing resembling cleavers- just clothes and jewelry and such. He got a few dirty looks from the shopkeepers as he got up-close looks at their wares, just to be sure there weren't any cleavers hiding anywhere.

He soon found a stall that didn't have just one meat cleaver- there was a whole stock of them! Excited at the find, he leaned in and started sniffing at them for the scent of meat. The shopkeeper- who looked like a newcomer to Tyris- didn't seem to be paying any attention to him, so he was able to get away with his odd method of inspection. However, though the cleavers were the right kind, Tyris couldn't smell meat on them. They hadn't been used, so they weren't the right one. They didn't have the engraving on their handles either. Disappointed, Tyris headed off to the next stall.

After a few hours of fruitless searching, Tyris came across a weapon shop. Strictly speaking, meat cleavers weren't weapons, but some people didn't pay much attention to the difference. Sure enough, Tyris spotted a handle like those on the meat cleavers he'd seen at the other stall within a rack of knives. Leaning in closer, he could faintly smell the scent of meat on the cleaver. And the tell-tale clue, of course, was the misshapen etching on the handle. This shopkeeper, however, was more on-the-ball than the last one- a large and intimidating-looking human woman, who stepped beside him and glared at him. "You buying, kid?" she asked. "N-no, actually, but this cleaver is-"

"Then get out," the shopkeeper replied, grabbing him by the shoulders and spinning him in the opposite direction.

Making his way back to the butcher shop, he spotted Roland. "I found it," he said, "but the lady running the shop was big and mean, and she wouldn't listen to me." He shrugged, feeling a bit disappointed with himself. It would have been awesome if he'd been able to get it back all by himself! "You think maybe you could help?"

@Roland Rutledge

 

Roland let out an exasperated sigh as he returned to the butcher’s shop, he didn’t like wasting the entire morning only to come up empty handed, “Who knows how long it’s going to take to find this thing.” He thought out loud while he waited for Tyris. The Felis eventually ran up to him sometime around noon, and a wave of relief passed through Roland as he said he found the knife, further obstacles aside. “Good job!” Roland said patting him on the shoulder, “Let’s go see what we can do.” Without hesitation he had Tyris show him to the weapon shop, and after a few moments the cleaver itself. “This is definitely it.” Roland confirmed as he gazed at the edging on the bottom of the cleaver. The shopkeeper appeared shortly after their arrival and was far more willing to help an adventurer like Roland, than the kid, “Ah yes.” She said in a husky voice, “That is a high caliber weapon, it will chop through monsters like they are nothing at all! I guarantee it.” Roland eyed the woman as he hesitated, “This is a cooking instrument, what is it even doing here.” He thought before clearing his throat, “Where exactly did you procure this from?” He asked instead hoping to shed some light on the odd situation. The shop keep wringed her hands in response, “Ah well you see, I, purchased it from a exotic travelling merchant~ Yes, they use these types of weapons all the time from where he came from, or so he said.” Roland paused looking at the woman, “How much?” he asked. “50 gold.” She replied shortly with a smile, “It’s quite a fine item.” In response Roland set the weapon down, and grunted, “I will need to think about it.”

Roland turned around exiting the store while motioning Tyris to come with him. Luckily the weapons store owner hadn’t recognized the smaller Feris when they had entered, it would have made what he had planned next, much harder. Roland took a few moments to collect his thoughts. “The shop keep is lying about the cleaver, and will likely continue to do so without something to force her hand. While I am sure, something more sinister is going on here, I don’t think this quest will require further investigation in order to clear it. For now I should focus my efforts on stealing the cleaver and returning it to its rightful owner. I can circle back afterward and figure out what exactly happened later”. “I have a plan,” Roland said suddenly out loud, “It’s a little bit risky, but it’s the quickest way to get it back in my opinion.” Scanning the small crowd he made sure no one was listening before continuing, “I’m going to go back in, and cause a distraction, wait until the count of thirty and slip in as quietly as you can and try to take the knife and run back to the butcher as fast as you can.” He spoke to Tyris confident that he could handle the task, but as he looked down at the child he hesitated before adding, “If you’re not comfortable doing so, that’s ok, just stay out here and I’ll…think of something…”

He didn’t wait for a response before heading in, “He either acts or doesn’t, that doesn’t change what needs to be done.” Roland pushed through the door with a loud thud, stomping over to the shopkeeper as an internal timer ticked off in his head. He paused scanning the room, it was empty save the shop keep, good. “Good woman.” He said getting her attention, and walking to the side of the store, “I was just informed by my counterpart in Brisal that he will send me the funds for a top of the line weapon.” He eyes widened in joy as she fluttered to the weapons near the cleaver, but Roland had figured that might happened. “No, no, no.” he said admonishing the shopkeeper, “Absolutely none of these will do.” Roland took a few steps over to the dagger collection on the other side of the wall, “This is something I am looking for.” The shopkeeper fluttered over to the small collection, and picked the gaudiest piece for Roland’s appraisal. As she did so, the adventurer positioned himself so he could have a clear view of the cleaver. As far as he could tell he had the shop keep's back to the door and cleaver, now it was just a matter of waiting “It should be about thirty seconds by now I should see Tryis any second.” As he waited the nodded intently at the shop keep’s inane lies about the rusted piece she held in front of him, hoping the Felis wouldn’t fall through at such a critical juncture.