[Mkguild] Fwd: RR Preview

[Rimme the Weasel]

>From the Jolly Collie, the nine of them headed to a warehouse one block
away, built specifically to hold cargo from foreign merchants. The interior
resembled a stable in its stone floor and the wide closed doors around the
open center. A faint smell of horses still lingered, as if the walls still
remembered the sweaty pack horses' relief of their burdens. Gwayn's wagon
was parked in one stall, but stacked high with a few tons of textiles made
it impossible for one man to move. Gwayn looked back to Kasaima. "Could I
use your strength here, please?"

Kasaima gave a nod, and knelt down so that Trey could hop off his shoulder,
landing on Aldwin. Aldwin was surprised, but couldn't resist lifting a
finger to stroke behind Trey's ears. Kasaima braced his arm against the
wagon and pulled. It was an awkward position, but it was enough to slowly
pull the wagon out of the stall.

Misha watched this, and finally came to a decision of his own. "One
second," he said as he clamored over the canvas-covered wagon to the back,
careful not to scrape his great axe against the wagon or ceiling. After a
brief scuffle, he called back, "Ready!"

The wagon gave way much more easily, rolling out of the stall into the wide
atrium. The humans were awestruck when Misha emerged, pants draped over his
four-legged taur body as he pushed the wagon. Even Howel seemed impressed,
raising an eyebrow at his new form.

Gwayn was quick to recover, and once the wagon was out, he began removing
the canvas with Reed's help. The lighting was dim, but the vibrant rugs
still seemed to shine and wash the warehouse walls with greens, blues, and
purples. The rugs on top were the smallest, but also the thickest. Fifteen
feet in length each, all six of them lay side-by-side atop the fourteen
rolls of long carpet underneath. There was a good variety there, with only
a couple duplicates among the colors and designs.

With his massive taur body, Misha could easily peer into the wagon to
appraise the rugs. "These are very fine rugs," he declared, "but not that
fine. I'll give you forty apiece for the top rugs, and fifty apiece for the
carpets."

Gwayn shook his head. "Sixty apiece for each. Twelve hundred total."

Misha crossed his arms. "You're not going to haggle?"

"I see no need. I've gone to a great deal of trouble hauling these rugs.
I'm not about to sell them at a low price, to be sold at a high markup up
north. You're welcome to buy everything at the same price as I would set up
north."

Misha remembered again why he set his own prices for his clocks in advance,
and left trade negotiations up to diplomats and the court. "You're not
exactly in a strong position to negotiate. You've had two of your own
guards rob you, and leave you with only two horses to barely pull your
wagon--"

Gwayn waved off Misha's arguments. "Yes, yes, and a couple days to leave
Metamor to do it. I'm ready to accept a temporary hardship for long-term
profit, as I'm sure my men are." The four guards all showed a subtle
disagreement with that assessment, Jerrod least of all.

Misha's lone ear twitched. He disliked merchants; their greed was all too
often their undoing. But he also disliked troublemakers, which they would
quickly turn into if they stayed. He was tempted to just buy the whole
inventory and be done with them; he could certainly have afforded it. But
twelve hundred was a steep sum for a bunch of carpets, especially as Kyia
often provided fine carpets for free. Storage wasn't a problem, but it
would just be more trouble for him to go around finding a buyer for them.

Finally Misha spoke. "Here's my offer. I'll pay six hundred gold for four
of the top rugs and six of the carpet rolls. That should be enough for you
to get another two horses, food and provisions for a journey north and
south, and lodgings in Starven to complete your business. The rest will be
up to you."
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