Private - (Moonbunny) Trade Negotiations

All sorts of people were talking rather loudly on the streets. Some were negotiating, others yelling to be heard and draw in customers, and some were just ready to fight over some deals gone bad. In all the hustle and bustle of the world, Neldo found himself striding through the crowd. The chaos of the street didn't reach him, as he stepped in time to the song of his head. He even let himself mumble to words to himself to drown on the background.

"Let me run with you tonight
I'll take you on a moonlight ride
There's someone I used to see
But she don't give a damn for me."​

The Yladian was searching the city streets in hopes of finding some sort of magic items vendor. But his trip was seeming like a wasted effort. With magic being as rare as it was, he knew the odds of finding a magic shop were not that great, but they should've been better in a capitol city. And besides that, things weren't looking too great either.

Relations with the Yladian had improved in this region, but from the faces that leered at Neldo it was easy to tell that some people still held on to old grudges. Still Neldo didn't mind, NPCs were as disposable as toilet paper. And if any trouble came from them, he would personally ensure they burned up like toilet paper as well. His pyromancy skills weren't the best, but there wasn't exactly a strong defense to being burnt alive.

@Moonbunny

 

Astorea, a curious place, dotted with a variety of towns, forestland, and villages. In one such place---some city, a rather odd girl was walking, her twin tails bouncing as she went.

"Oh how quaint but oh-so-very dull. If one has seen one village one has seen them all I suppose~ but where is the culture? Is working the fields day in and day out really so interesting...? This tour of mine of the countryside has been an entire forfeit i'm afraid...and the capitol is no better."

It was a rather unforgivable statement, so it was also rather luckily not voiced above a mutter. Even so, there was surely -something- interesting here...the people on the street seemed to permeate something...tension perhaps?

Then a song. Moony didn't have the particularly mobile ears of a non-human race and yet they perked up at the sound. Something moved within her. She had to possesses it. Someway, somehow...

Turning on a dime she followed the lyrics, the hum, and there she found quite a rare specimen, perhaps for the region, an elf.

"No, a Yaldian, she corrected herself." Something within the writing of the story had happened involving this race, something before her time and of which she didn't care about in the least. Ignoring the veiled stares of the city-folk, which if not for the man's presence, might very well have been directed at her instead, she sped after him.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Moony picked up her pace.

"You there! Haven't you a moment? Ah~ wait..."

Fretting, she removed a pair of white gloves and putting them on in a hurry, ever so lightly pulled on the hem of the man's mantle.

"Sir...Bard..." Stopping for a moment she attempted to catch her breath. "That song? What is the name of that song? I would very much like to possesses it. Might it be for sale?"

Standing on her tiptoes she looked upward with determination, trying to meet the man's gaze with her own.

@Neldo Dini

 

There was a tug on the plain brown robes that Neldo wore, and he turned around to see... a small girl with white gloves and... pigtails? Well that was somewhat odd. She asked him about the song he was singing. A classic song by one of his favorite artists, the late Tom Petty. She wanted to posses the song though... wait what?

"Possess....the song?" The yladian laughed before continuing, "I'm sorry. I'm no bard in this game, I'm just... strange I suppose. But how can you possess a song?" The Yladian realized he might be giving away something of value, at least to another player if he wasn't careful. "And besides, what would you have to trade for it?"

How could someone not know this song by now? It was Tom Petty's very best song, at least in his opinion. Still, this girl or perhaps felis, was interested and Neldo hadn't had a good conversations since arriving in the city.

@Moonbunny

 

Moony frowned....how, indeed, -could- one posses a song...? Well damn. There were no CDs here (probably not in the real world anymore either?), no mp3s, 4s, or 5billions, no bluetooth, no stream, nor internet...

"Well! Nevermind -that-!!" Moony huffed. "Let us disembark from these streets, the looks we are receiving are as unfashionable as they are annoying..."

Sighing, Moony ushered the not-bard mage away and chose a place that looked something that looked like a rather posh medieval cafe. Probably an adventurer's business establishment, on account of things.

Plopping into her seat, Moony smiled. "Much better! Now, you asked what I could offer in exchange, but before payments can be settled I must yet know the price of production, yes? To solve that question we must yet figure out how I may possess your song...I nary doubt you would enjoy following me about to sing at my beck and call...would you even fit into my bag...?"

Moony giggled and ordered a tea and whatever the man across from her wanted.

"But I do take it you are willing to part with the tune if we -do- solve the predicament of its transfer, yes?"

Having received her order, Moony began mixing quite a few spoonfuls of sugar into her tea...

"Tell me what are your interests shrewd mage? Surely not anything as crass a gold?"

@Neldo Dini

 

Before long this strange and somewhat pushy girl was ushering the Yladian mage off of the streets into some small shop. The smell of baked goods and black bitter water filled the air of the large yet dimly lit room. Heavy thick curtains blocked most of the sunlight from the windows giving the establishment an almost dark eerie atmosphere, if not for the few smiling faces of the patrons. This was rather similar to the cafes in the real world. Caffeine junkies (in Neldo's opinion) sipping on liquid energy and shunning the light of day. It was a little too similar to vampire lore for his liking.

The girl talked and Neldo's lips curled slightly into a smile. She was funny, bizarre, and in all likelihood a fanatic of these caffeine shops. Or maybe not since she ordered a tea instead of a coffee. Neldo Dini ordered himself a glass of water and when it came, he turned the glass on the table to see how clean it actually was.

"I suppose I'm willing. I guess I'm mostly curious to see how you can hope to possess a song in the first place. If we manage that, I know of a musician who can play the song but he's... I guess the word would have to be colorful." Neldo was satisfied with the clean glass and took a sip before finishing his thought. "But that's true of the best musicians."

"If you're not willing to pay in gold, that's fine with me. I'm collecting a personal library of books. Anything with historical facts, magic theory, an atlas, by the flame I'd even take a treasure map if you had anything like that lying around." So far Neldo hadn't been able to find a complete book. Only pages that had been torn out and fallen into strange hands that most likely could not read them. But maybe this girl had a way. She certainly seemed like the kind that was driven to get results.

@Moonbunny

 

"Oh? The scholarly sort! Very commendable. Hmmmm...."

Absentmindedly, Moony stirred her tea in a daze. Finished, she removed the teaspoon with a light tink causing, for a moment, the girl's eyebrows to perk up in surprise. She smiled...

"...A music box. Perhaps the first of its kind in this world. Both doable, and admittedly cheap in its production, I would imagine. That, would be one means, of owning a song...yes?"

Moony sipped her tea.

"If I were to have the musical notation, I believe it would be more than possible for one of my ability to produce. As a service, I could make you one as well, if you'd like? Not for the trade mind you...for that....

Furrowing her brows, Moony grew quiet.

"Well, I haven't any books on my person at the moment, but how about the means to produce one?"

Moony revealed a rather fancy fountain pen from her purse.

"Not this one mind you, this one's mine, and likely -also- the first of its kind. But I would be willing to part with creating you the second. A fountain pen is much more convenient than a pen and quill, and, it uses the same ink while preserving it all the longer."

Moony's eyes glimmered.

"Would that interest you my learn~ed friend?"


@Neldo Dini

 

Neldo's ears twitched involuntarily and his eyes grew a little wider, a small glimmer in his eyes and a smile on his face. He hadn't even considered writing his own works, but the opportunity opened a plethora of opportunities for the Yladian's future. He could write his own books on magic theories, hide treasures away and create his own riddled maps to trade to other players, and perhaps the most simple yet impressive utility would be recording simple notes on places and journeys of interest that he might want to revisit later. A fountain pen would be far more useful during traveling, and would allow him to work on the road.

"I can't lie, that would be and ideal tool for me. But, I think I'm still getting the short end of the deal since I'll need to involve another player. Not too mention your music box will last far longer than the ink in a pen would." Neldo paused to take a sip from his drink before setting it down and continuing, "Not to belittle your pen. As I said, I would be keen on the trade. Still, I would like to have some... longevity added. Perhaps a means to refill the pen"

Neldo Dini's mind was exhilarated with this small bartering. These were simple tools and trinkets they were negotiating, but they were also unique one of a kind items as far as he was aware. It was also the first time he negotiated a trade with a player rather than an NPC.

Hopefully if she agreed to this, all he would need to do was send a message to Charlie in the game. Actually, that would be when things became complicated. Charlie was a good friend, but he was quite the handful both in and out of game. He would likely have his own conditions, but it was still the best way to go about this. After all, Charlie loved being the voice in the spotlight. He'd likely be extremely enthused about being recorded on some form of permanence.

@Moonbunny

 

Oh~?

It had been a shot in the dark but her offer had proved effective. Moony hadn't expected that. It wasn't that she was trying to engage in some kind of unfair practice or anything, no, but sometimes it could simply be a pain in the butt to have someone agree to something that would serve to their benefit. Just ask any Dentist.

But that wouldn't be an issue here it seemed. Moony liked this man, in a sense, they were cut from the same sort of cloth. The girl warmly smiled, the man's mood was infectious. Somewhere deep down, she realized that she was finally having fun.

Moony wagged her finger, "Now, now, those are shrewd words, and indeed, I am yet a stranger, but you needn't worry..."

From her purse, Moony removed a simple wooden case, and sliding back the lid, revealed a number of brass apparatuses. Lifting her pen from the table, she slowly twisted the midsection to take it apart.

"Though I cannot supply you with a lifetime's worth of ink, and I fear you may be better equipped to procure it than I am at the moment, should you come across any, the process for refilling the device is relatively simple."

From her small box, she raised a thimble-sized, also brass, funnel.

"Should you find any workable ink, not paint, blood, or anything strange a warlock might use, but honest to goodness writing ink... you simply use the funnel to pour it into the pen's brass reservoir like so..."

On account of her appearance and her rather odd seriousness in the demonstration of refilling a pen of all things, Moony really did look like a little girl fussing over a toy. Holding the parted shell of the pen with its hollow middle toward the gentlemen elf at an upward angle----being careful not to let the ink within spill out---- she mimed placing the funnel in and out of the reservoir.

"And be careful that it is actually in the reservoir and that you don't accidently spill any into the shell of the pen. While the pen is brass and immune to rust, it would be a shame to waste something as fine as good ink..."

Pausing for a short breath, the girl's eyes lit up as she leaned forward and continued. It appeared as though she was getting to the interesting part...?

"Really though, the real trick to things is in the know-how concerning the proper cleaning of the apparatus! After some time, it is always good to give the fountain pen a good, proper, cleaning. For that, I've devised a tiny brush, but really, just about any amount of properly clean water ran through the reservoir will do...."

In her excitement, Moony had begun to ramble as she went over everything in her pen's equipment box. Somewhere toward the end of her demo, she guaranteed that all of the parts would, of course, be included in the package when she made the man his very own pen. It went without saying, really, such service was obviously on account of her...

"...honor as a collector of interesting things!"

"...."

Blinking a few times, Moony came to her senses, and her pale cheeks turned a deep, deep shade of red. Pursing her lips she fretted with her hands in her lap before slowly raising her eyes and breaking the silence.

"----But it really is a rather interesting pen!"



@Neldo Dini