NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Money!
I perked up at the information, before giving the inn keeper a nod, dismissing him so I could finish the last few bits of my meal. I patted my stomach in satisfaction, before sneaking a look at the cupful of alochol I had gotten. Mead, I thought, as I took a sip.
Tasted a little like honey, and it wasn't really refreshing— but I drank the thing anyway, not really feeling the alcohol take hold of my senses, even as I found myself asking for another. Another thing I was immune to, I imagined?
I finished the second cup, before thanking the inn keeper and telling him I would be back. The trip to this tradesman took some time, as the town was quite large, all things considered.
I passed by the local men, women and children of the city, giving them all nods, and trying to keep as friendly of a demeanor as I could; but they gave me strange looks, regardless.
Why was that?
"Could be because you're cleaner than the soap they use." Erebus pointed out, and that's when I understood. The people looked dirty, like they hadn't bathed in days, possibly weeks, while my own scouring charm did the work to clean me up.
They must have thought I was someone of importance, or something.
I sighed, figuring that it was too late to magic up some dirt to cover me at this point. Questions would be asked, and questions lead to trouble— something I was hoping to avoid for the time being.
The square castle ahead looked even larger when I went closer to the town's center.
The sound of shuffling feet, and general silence of the alleyway gave way to the shouts of merchants and customers alike, haggling over the various products being sold.
I noticed a few shop names as I walked around for a while, listening in to other people's conversations. Tomreth's Tuns, a wine shop. Master Roff's Bronzeworks, a jeweler's shop. A large building with a seven pointed star symbol on its entrance.
I kept on listening.
Learning.
So the currencies were gold dragons, silver stags and copper stars. Or was it copper pennies and silver moons? It was a little confusing. I decided I would ask this collector.
After a few more minutes of being confused and lost, I approached a random stall and asked one of the many merchants where the collector was. The merchant in question, a fat man with very chubby cheeks, gave me a glare before pointing to a medium sized cart, with a bored looking, middle aged man behind it.
He didn't shout, he didn't try to get any attention from the masses which were browsing.
How strange, I thought as I approached the man.
Perhaps my estimation of middle-age was a bit erroneous. Closer up, he looked a lot younger than I originally though; twenty five, maybe? What I had thought to be the beginnings of white bleeding into the man's black hair was actually a small strip of cloth that had been stuck to his hair without him noticing.
His face was shaved, though it looks like he got cut many times in the process, judging by the many scabs on his neck.
He laid his eyes on me for a few moments, before straightening ever so slightly.
"May I help you, my friend?" He said with a fake smile.
I stifled an eye-roll and spoke. "I was told by one of the inn keepers that you are a collector of sorts."
"This is true." The man said, leaning forward, not looking as bored as he did a moment past. "I assume you have some rare item?"
I smiled for a short moment, before digging into my featherweight pouch and pulling out a handful of golden galleons, placing them in front of the man.
"My..." He said, grabbing one of the coins and examining it, before taking a quick bite, and then nodding in confirmation to himself. "Where did you get this from?"
"Found it all in an abandoned temple to the East." I said, the words coming to me easily. "What do you think it is?"
"I am not sure." He said as he looked at the engraved image of a dragon. "Perhaps relics of the great empire of Old Valyria."
I didn't know what the great empire of Old Valyria was, but it sure sounded impressive. I decided I would go with it.
"Could very well be." I shrugged. "I just want to sell them, to be honest. Are you interested?"
The merchant seemed to be struggling to hold his excitement. I stifled another grin and pretended I was bored with the whole exchange.
"I might be."
"Then let's do business." I said. "What's your offer?"
"Three hundred gold dragons." The man said, opening one of the stall's many drawers and pulling out a few large pouches of jingling coins. "More than generous considering the worth of the gold in the coins."
"May I see?" I asked politely, and received one of the pouches in response. I opened it, and gazed on the coin in the inside. The man was right, the worth of the gold he offered was a lot more than the worth of the handful of galleons I showed him.
"Hm." I nodded. "I shall take this as payment, though..."
"Yes?" The merchant said, a little warily.
"I wish for an explanation on the currencies of this land, as well." I said slowly. "I became slightly confused when talk of silver stags, silver moons, copper pennies and copper stars reached my ears."
"Ah." The man smiled knowingly. "Not an altogether strange question, though, this far up north... No matter."
And he began explaining to me how the currency system seemed to work. He said that the coinage used is all based on the gold dragon coin, which had two smaller denominations, silver stag coins and copper pennies, while the rest were just coins from older times; still being used, but slowly on their way to become obsolete.
It went as such.
1 gold dragon was worth 210 silver stags.
1 silver stag was worth 56 copper pennies.
As for stars and moons, well; a star was worth 8 pennies and a moon was worth 7 stags.
I nodded to myself, asking for a silver stag and a copper penny on top of the three hundred gold dragons, as well as a general map of the regions, if he had one.