The Crossbow stall:

[kadrik]

Ah, a fresh dawn arose from the mountains in the west, a glimmering flame appearing behind the jagged peaks in the full splendor of the suns daily rebirth.
The bazaar was beginning to get busy, (for there never was a shortage of trade in Khaz Urbaz), manlings from Yetzinburg, Wisenland, even as far as Tilia, Nuln or further yet, where beginning their Daly pondering, haggling and business deals.

Lokri was doing a little filling in for Bjarni his younger brother.(of course the youngest in the clan always began with the least important jobs, as responsibility could only be an award for age)

The sprawling market was already beginning to fill with the smells of exotic (to a dwarf) spices as foreign merchants set up their food stalls selling delicacies from the old world and beyond. The bazaar guard were on patrol as ever, some of them sporting crossbows that bore the seal of Lokri's clan, something that brought more than a hint of pride to Lokri.

Soon enough, a man with a wild eye and a ragged cloak, (there were many of these in such places)
came forth inquiring into the price of bows, Lokri began his salesman speech and implored the human not to overlook the advantages of a Dwarfen crossbow over a hunting bow. The man of course, was "economically challenged", and unable to afford a crossbow, so with a sigh and a smile, Lokri handed the unfortunate man his prized hunting bow, and the gold changed hands.

He did of course, admire the man for preferring the slightly more expensive yet highly improved dwarf quality, over the manling contraptions that looked like they had been made with a twig and a ball of wool.

Manlings came and went, and business was slow but constant as ever, and Lokri was glad that the clan would be bringing in a fair amount of money.

Soon enough, midmorning transformed into midday, and Lorki was relieved of his post for a while by Thrundi. Lokri began his traditional daily wander around the stalls, although he rarely saw anything that actually appealed to him, except on the rarer or dwarf owned stores. After a long wandering, Lokri decided to go to the stall which was the main source of competition...

[Drasanil]

[OOC: 15xps, as for your main competitor ye best handle that yourself, since I have no idea where you're going with it, although it should probably be another minor clan, as Clan Blackhammer pretty much as the proper dwarf market locked up.]

[kadrik]

Lokri meandered his way through the stalls giving the odd wink and nod to a few of the other salesmen/dwarfs whom he was well acquainted with.
Having eaten a hearty breakfast he was not too hungry yet and ignored the devilishly tempting meats and foodstuffs on display, they often flogged it off for cheaper near the end of the day anyway.

Soon he reached Manfredi the Tilean's stall, a large caravan that opened out into a stall. Upon which were a large number of projectile weapons, all made by manlings, and all of shoddy consistency.

Lokri looked on in disbelief as the customers went along picking up weapons that looked like they had been put together by an orc, using a rock instead of a hammer. The dwarf shook his head, and then smiled at Manfredi, who it seemed had not been supplied his best equipment yet. Manfredi looked away and returned to serving his customers, with more than a hint of worry at the scrutiny of the dwarf.

One man was looking at a crossbow on show, which seemed to be of a less than satisfactory standard, not just to Lokri, but to the customer as well.
The man was looking at the wind mechanism, and the seal on the woodwork. The fine clothes the man was wearing were a good implication that this fellow had an eye (and a wallet) for quality.

Lokri saw his chance, and walked to wards the well dressed man. Lokri always made sure he looked the part when selling to manlings, because they seemed to need allot more visual guidance than other races,
therefore, Lokri wore his utility belt and tool kit when he was working the stall. Unfortunately the humans had a nasty habit of trying to steal other peoples possessions. Luckily, the bazaar guard treated even petty criminals most harshly, as examples.

"Hope am not mistaken manlin' but am sure yae can afford sommit better than that."
Lokri said in a deep carrying voice to grab the mans attention. Manfredi looked on with his beady eyes,
and shouted back to the dwarf in a spiteful rage much like a insulted child.
"Lokri Spangelhelm! Whata you think you doin! Leave my customers be! If they wanted your wares they would go on to find it!"
The hot tempered Tilean spat as he spoke, many of his customers turned round, their attentions drawn to the aggressor of this outburst.

(Now, Manfredi did indeed have right to ward off other businesses attempting to steal his custom, but in this situation he just happened to do it in completely the wrong way. The customer in question, just happened to be Gerhard Hillenbrand, one of the Colonial guard of the Yetzinburg colony near the Proudstone quarry. Which, just happens to be ran by Lokri's second uncle, Kadrik)

"Spangelhelm? Are you of relation to Thane Kadrik I?
Lokri smiled, and half guessed from where this manling came.
"I am indeed, he is my fathers brothers brother, something I am ne'er ashamed to say."
Lokri hid his emerging smirk, he would get a deal yet.
"Ah, then your clan is of high reputation, can you offer me better workmanship than this?"
The human held aloft the shoddy crossbow in Lokri's general direction. Manfredi shouted out some obscenities in Tilean.
"A can indeed, but I think you should come to my stall and see for yourself." Lokri made a slight swivel on his feet to face the direction of his stall, knowing the manling would follow...

[Drasanil]

[OOC: "he is my fathers brothers brother" adding a second brother doesn't make him any less your uncle 15xps +5 for amuzing me with the Tilean.]

[edit by Kadrik: I meant to say, my uncles brother IN LAW ]

[kadrik]

Lokri led the human toward the stall, and came to Bjarni with a twinkle in his eye. Bjarni was making a sale on (another) hunting bow, and Lokri felt quite superior when he came back to the stall with the man and stepped straight behind the desk.

Lokri searched around for a few moments, and whilst the man did not speak, Bjarni managed an uncomfortable smile, wondering what on earth was happening. The human went onto his tip toes and peered down over the desk to see what was happening, and then Lokri emerged brandishing a exquisitely made dwarf crossbow.

Lokri stood up, then realized what he had done.
"OH sorry aboot that sir, rather rude o' me tae leave ye standin there without noin' where a had brought ye!" Lokri said with a laugh that was not at all faked, or uncomfortable, revealing he was not feeling in anyway pressured or pressed for time.

"No trouble my good clansman, I presume this is your stall?" The human said, seeing the humor of the situation. Now Bjarni felt a little out of place so he decided it would be a good time to introduce himself.
" Aye tis mucker! Aye, Bjarni Spangelhelm at your service! And to me left is Lokri ma older bro'r" Lokri rolled his eyes, this manling looked to be of 'noble' standing, and referring to him as 'mucker'might not be the best way to impress him.
It appeared the beardlings fast tongue had meant the man had caught little besides the names, but Lokri thought it best to give his brother a firm shin kick to remind him of his manners when speaking with customers.
"Gerhard Hillenbrand, at yours and your families service," The human said removing his hat, in true dwarf fashion.
"I have had dealings with your relation, Thane Kadrik of Duraz-Grugnaz, and I found him to be a most forthright and honorable person."
Gerhard proclaimed. (not understanding the error)
"Aye tis true that Kadrik ha' brought much honor to the clan, but come now, lets keep tae the matters at hand. Here sir, is a REAL CROSSBOW."
Lokri interjected, as it looked like Bjarni was about to speak again, which could have disastrous effects.

Lokri handed the weapon to the human to inspect it, and felt pleased as the manlings eyes lit up.
The crossbow was allot heavier than the last one that he had held, but especially with dwarf made things, weight meant intricacy. The crossbow had little wood on its construction, save for its handle, which was inlaid with an intricate knotted pattern of gold.

The crossbow itself had a secondary handle at the end, so that the free hand could hold it steadier when firing, the bolts where contained within a spinning cartridge, which rotated when a bolt was fired.
The wind to return the bow string was wide, allowing faster reload of the crossbow. In addition, the crossbow had a stamp upon it that Gerhard knew well, the seal of the Spangelhelms.

"Indeed, this is quite possibly the finest crossbow I have laid my eyes upon." Gerhard said, feeling the crossbow as he aimed and fired imaginary bolts into the crowd around him.
"Of course, this begs the question, how much?" The human said, turning to the dwarfs, yet he did not place the crossbow back on the table, which Lokri knew was a good sign.

"Well you see you pay for the workmanship manling, couldn't buy that for less than 75
gold crowns." Lokri said, and Bjarni looked on and nodded solemnly.
The human smiled, as he had been expecting a hard bargain.
"My good dwarfs, that is double what I would have paid at the Tilean's shop!"
"Aye but for more than tenfold the quality. Personally I prefer to buy the best when am defendin' he house an home." Lokri answered.
"Aye, and there's no doubt that ye can pay it!" Bjarni added, earning another shin kick.
The human laughed, and then thought for a moment, looked once more at the loading mechanism and the superior design.
"Tis sure that I can afford it, but perhaps we can reach a compromise. How does 65 crowns sound to you, and I will inform my fellows of this fine establishment, I can surely increase your business?"

Lokri, turned to Bjarni, and both of them nodded in synchrony. The man began to hand out his bags of gold, which Lokri checked, and weighed, finding everything to be in order. The deal was done.
"Nice doing business with you fine fellows, and I by my Honor I will tell all I know of this stall!"
"Then be it on your honor sire, and may we have much more dealings with you in the future!"

Lokri smiled to Bjarni, and thought to himself, how good it was to have someone famous in the family.

[Drasanil]

[OOC: 10xps +5 for Bjarni amuzing me]

[kadrik]

The day carried on as usual, business was steady but slow and Lokri and Bjarni took it in turns to outwit humans, and every now and then a intellectual came along and they had a half decent conversation.

Short bows and bows sold (as ever) like hot cakes, and a few humans were wise enough to fork out enough gold to buy themselves a crossbow, which pleased the dwarfs greatly.

The sun began its decent in the sky, and the crowds began to thin, and soon enough when all the deals had been done, the stalls began to close. Lokri and Bjarin put the last of the stock back into its safe, and locked it once more. After which they checked that the money was in order.

They were busy counting up bags marked with V and X when Fodrik came up behind them.
"Areet there ma' boys, how's t'day gone for ye? Kept you busy I hope?"
Lokri turned round to face the new voice then recognized the face of one of the elder members of the clan. Lokri smiled, and decided to recount his tale of Gerhard.
"Aye, aye we did indeed, me an me bro'er
sold a fair few crossbows the day, an I might ov managed tae seal a deal with a human from old Kadrik's neighborhood."

"He's no lien there, the fella placed on his Honor he would spread the word for us, I would'ny be surprised if we sold a fair few more of your crossbows by even the morrow!"
The two elder dwarfs smiled at Bjarin, he got rather exited sometimes but it was nice to see that he did take his job seriously.
"Is that so laddy, well then ye best hope I keep makin' em then hadn't ye! How much did ye make today then d'ya no?"
"Av no finished countin' yet, but must be a good six hundred crowns I should guess. I'll hafty tell ye whence we are finished countin up."
Bjarin nodded and Fodrik gave the two a firm pat on the back, looking at the gold sacks of gold ready to be locked up and carted away into the hold.

"Good, good work ma boys. Well since ye've worked so hard, I'll save you a bit of work and take get a the lads to take the stock back to the homes for ye. You can just carry on countin' and bring that up when your done."
Fodrik said and began to walk away. Then he stopped, remembering what he had come for.
"Almost forgot then lads, here, I best pay ye afore it escapes me mind ha'nt I!"
He came over and handed the two dwarfs each a small bag, which contained their wage for the day.

Lokri's bag contained five gold crowns, and Bjarni's three. Bjarni looked up at Fodrik in distaste, then shouted,"Ye wot? I've done just as much work as ma bro'er why's he got more gold than me? Tha's no fair!" Fodrik spun round with a wild glint in his eye, Lokri expected fireworks.
"Yee ungrateful litt'l git! The other day I wus uny sayin tae ye!" Fodrik said, defensively.
"Aye! Aye, ye always say it, Wage comes with Age! Well am sorry but he's no even that much older than me!"
"No, I was gunnay say it's better tae look stupid than tae open yer mouth an prove it! Now show some respect ye cheeky wee bugger!"
Lokri laughed, as Fodrik walked off. Bjarni swallowed his pride carried on counting the crowns.
"Ye will have tae watch yerself when the elders are talkin' to ye. Here, ye can have one o' my crowns since ye did work hard, but not a word of it tae Fodrik ye hear?" Lokri felt a little guilty, and handed one of his crowns over. Bjarni took it and smiled, the quickly pocketed it before Lokri could change his mind.
"Not a word mucker, not a word."

[kadrik]

The dwarfs packed the last of the money away, and then locked the safe that held their gold. Lokri put the key (he carried since he was the eldest and most trustworthy) into his a box in his tool bag, which he locked, and hid his own key in his shoe.

The two dwarfs began their journey to the clan homes, they carried the safe like a stretcher between them.
On they went to wards the secondary gates, Bjarni grumbling all the while that it was far to heavy and should be given wheels. Lokri was beginning to feel hungry now, after a full day on his feet, and hoped to Grugni that there would be a nice, steaming hot meal ready just as they walked through the door. The thought of which made him walk a little faster, and Bjarni of course had no choice but to keep up.

[Drasanil]

[OOC: 15xps]