While Heppa and Alric are off shoveling hay, Tric visits the merchant booths, looking for a traveling jeweler as at the Full Bloom Festival. He has an oversized, uncut ruby to pawn, the one that used to be in Mal-Vektor’s staff. Although Heppa does not mind being indebted to Alric, Tric would like to clear that tab. Hmm… how much should I say about the provenance of this ruby? Tric muses. Finding an appropriate merchant, he presents the gem. “I pulled this myself from the Heart Mountains,” Tric begins. He cannot resist growing more grandiose as he continues, lacing his words with power, “This is in fact the very beating heart of the Heart Mountains, brought hundreds of leagues. Some say this was once the heart of a drake itself.” Tric feels the rhythmic thump of the heart, and from the look of wonder in the merchant’s eyes, they do as well. At the next stall over, Glammur stands with a recent purchase, tapping on their new gourd drum. They are out of the jeweler’s line of sight, but Tric sees the dwarf and gives a little nod of appreciation at their contribution to this show. “Some say that if you put your ear on the gem itself, you can hear it, you can feel it beat.”
Tric pours himself into the performance. He wants to get the best deal he can for this gem, and also, ideally, for it to go far, far away, just in case his removal of that terrible rune was not permanent. “As a creature attuned to the very magics of the world, my personal opinion is that this could possess great power. Or, with such a size, you could carve it up into many lustrous gems.”
The merchant examines the piece and suggests a figure. Tric frowns and counters that he is willing to take that much if the jeweler also throws in a bracelet of significant value. “You say that this crystal might be magical. Well, this piece actually is,” the merchant responds. “This was sold to me by a hard-on-their-luck scholar.” Tric brings the bangle close to examine the tiny stone embedded in it, looking for a rune. There is a sigil lightly scratched in it, not deeply engraved. This is likely the work of a human artisan, not a dwarvish runemaster. Whatever it does, it will not be as powerful as the pieces that Heppa has cast through. He accepts the bracelet for rounding out the payment. It will make a good present for his cousin Quaemilya… in exchange for some lessons in fae magic. There is much he needs to learn about the topic in order to grow into his inherited title of elvish lord. It is true that his magic of the silver tongue can already do a lot, but it does not hurt to be more versatile.
Heppa has good luck in her market activities as well. She finds a stall run by a little old grandmother, who is actively painting faces onto her wares. All the painted gourd containers here mimic the decorative carved ones around the festival. “Are you interested in one of our traditional gourd jars?” she croaks. “The painted ones last much longer.” The gourds being sold as containers here have all been dried ahead of time, and some still have caps with stems to serve as lids.
Usually Tric is around to help Heppa settle prices, but since he is not, she decides to experience negotiation herself. “These all look wonderful,” she enthuses, looking at all the jars. She holds up one that looks good. On one side is a smiling face, eyes crinkled with joy. On the other side is a frowning face with downturned eyes. “Is there some kind of human story behind this artwork?” Heppa asks.
“At the autumn equinox, the spirit world is close. This represents looking forward and looking back. People put candles inside the carved ones and set them outside their houses to ward off dark spirits. You set it with the happy face looking outwards from the home to show a brave face. You keep your fears hidden, hence the sad face in the back.”
“That’s perfect!” Heppa cheers. She shows the wooden chits that she won at pitchfork games. With the discount they provide, the impressive gourd container is hers for only a few coins. She cannot wait to share this interesting tidbit of human culture with Lala. Just then, another gourd fanfare sounds, and Alric tells her it is time to watch the grand demonstration of the catapult.