With the youngest party members' hangovers abated, it's time to get some investigation in. And maybe do some shopping to see what is available. It's filler, but filler with a purpose. Wren's never been in a large trading city like Silver Trailings before. Wildwood is a quieter place, more government town than anything else. The young elf is more at home in the wild. She's the wide-eyed tourist, ripe for every pickpocket, scam artist, and ne'er do well around.
The first merchant Wren buys from knows what she is. He didn't need to charge an extra shilling; he could have just slipped the foreign currency in with the rest of his coins and passed them on to the next vendor, or kept the elven coin to use with elven merchants. He could have even melted the coins down for their value as metal, though that might not be the wisest idea. Leo could have said something, being more familiar with how merchants work; instead, he stepped in to help Wren.
While the younger two shop, Jyslyn's keeping an eye on things. She's more used to a wretched hive of scum and villainy and knows to keep her guard up. Jyslyn is also looking for more info on what's happening. The merchant has a mix of truth and rumour, but if the elf cast a lie detector spell, it'd show that he believes he's telling the truth. Remember, the goblins got greedy and kept the dark elf-made dagger back in Chapter 22. The villain's plot is complex and being created on the fly.
Jyslyn does have a need for something comfortable to wear. She's already had a couple of fanservice-y scenes, most recently in Chapter 24. She wants something she could wear something at night that she didn't feel bundled into and that won't distract Kazimier too much. Jyslyn also gave Leo a way out of the awkward conversation that was building.
One of the fun parts of world building on the fly is that questions that come up can be answered right away. If I had put any thought into the world before starting, the dwarves would just send their trade goods out through horse-drawn caravans. However, since I needed the equivalent of a dock's red-light district, I tossed in a canal! The difference? I can showcase dwarven engineering, I can have even more goods being sent and received than possible with horse-drawn wagons, and I can use the Rideau Canal as a template. The Rideau Canal was built to supply Kingston with goods from Montreal and Bytown in case of American invasion. The dwarves aren't as worried about that, but they do need to get raw and refined ore out to their trading partners.
The last scene in the plays on the misunderstanding in Chapter 24, when Wren arrived in the middle of the awkwardness between Jyslyn and Kazi. Wren suspects there's something going on, but isn't sure of what. I do have plans for Jyslyn and Kazi's relationship. They're not at the right moment to realize what they feel, though. There's too much baggage that they need to work through, but the trip may help there.
Friday, a response to Nyssa's letters, in The Elf's Prisoner Chapter 29
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, sports movies.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Men With Brooms.
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