33 - Rocky Purchase

Joe woke up late the next morning after having made the dusky trek back to Fort Coral with Wen the evening before. As his brain kicked in, he became aware of the warm body draped over him. Mojo had taken Zoe's spot on his hip. The feeling of déjà vu was so poignant that his breathing skipped a breath. Zoe was a sweet girl, but at twelve, she was the one he was most worried about with Aunt Ann and Uncle Dave back on Earth. She had dietary restrictions and was starting to show her age. Every morning, Joe started his hellos with her, running his hand down her side, just as he was doing with Mojo now. Mia and the puppy Ripple would wake up after a few seconds, devolving that quiet time into a quest for air amongst all the kisses. Yet those first quiet moments were ones he treasured. Which Mojo was now giving back to him.

As he languished in the amazingly comfortable bed, he decided that this would probably be his last day at the Captain's Glass, even though Samshee, at the front desk, had let him know that the inn had no problem with pets. In a world with cleaning and mending incantations, a pet incident could be waved away with a brush of magic.

Even so, it was time he found himself a more permanent residence. He would want to set up a space for Mojo. Also, Joe had been living in care facilities and hospitals for years. Before that, the dorms at college. He hadn't had a room he could really call his own since his childhood bedroom with his parents. The idea of his own place excited him.

Joe rolled off his side and onto his back; the little shug-monkey wriggling to keep a spot on Joe's thigh. As his fingers worked through the little guy's soft fur, he stared absently at the ceiling, picturing different rooms and what he would want from a rental. A view of the ocean was mandatory. That shouldn't be too hard to find in the coastal city. Other than that, just someplace he could relax in sounded good.

He put off rising for a few more minutes, relishing this moment where there was nothing pressing he needed to do. He could have copied Hah'roo and relaxed when they first landed in Fort Coral, but he would not have appreciated it the way he was now. He had needed the win from the [Encroaching Apes] quest.

Since he had been here in Illuminaria, he had prevailed in a few battles, but always by the seat of his pants or due to someone else's actions. Sailing here to Fort Coral, Joe had real concerns about whether he would be able to become the person he wanted to be in this new land. Could he really hack it as an adventurer?

Now he knew it was possible thanks to this last quest. There was no doubt that he couldn't have done it without Wen. That was ok, it was not soloing that was the goal, but being free to make choices. He had chosen a teammate, and he was more than happy with how that partnership had worked out. He, Earcellwen, and Neaneaon had rocked the three-part challenge. Not only had they finished the base quest, but they had a lead on the bonus content. They even picked up a new friend, to boot.

Joe closed his eyes and just lay there, running his hand over the happy shug monkey's back, feeling his doubts vanish. He was not the clueless, wet-noodle who had stumbled into Illuminaria a month ago anymore. If he had to go up against someone at his level, say Earcellwen, for example, he was pretty sure he could hold his own now. It was a great feeling to no longer be a weak link.

After a short while longer, he finally slid out from under the canine changeling, who then circled and settled into the warm spot Joe had just vacated. The little man cracked an eye to track Joe, making sure he was not going to be left behind, but Mojo was happy to stay put for a minute more.

Joe dressed in a comfortable outfit and then used a charm to clean it and himself. He had figured that trick out. One could save a charm usage by dressing in dirty clothes before triggering the magic to scrub both body and outfit clean.

He then put the few items not already in his dim-bag into the spatial item, but there was really only a hairbrush and a toothbrush to pick up. Having an organized extra-dimensional container was just easier than using the room's chest or even the tabletops. Joe had always had a terrible habit of putting items down somewhere stupid and then having to waste hours trying to find them again. Ever since he bought his dim-bag, that problem had been solved. It was just easier to keep everything he owned in this one convenient magic space.

After one last look around the room to ensure he hadn't missed anything, Joe and the changeling headed downstairs. The desk clerk this morning was an older woman who nodded to them the moment she saw him. She was just as tidily dressed as the selkie had been. Her long brown hair was woven into an elaborate braid, and her white shirt and maroon vest looked immaculately pressed.

Bea Luxadall: Human: Innkeeper / Steward 19

"Good morning, you two," she greeted them. When her eyes flicked to the key in his hand, she added, "Are you checking out this morning?"

Joe bobbed his head a few times. "Think so. I'm going to try to find a good boardinghouse, but I do have a few other things I also have to get done today. So, I might be back tonight."

"Did you enjoy that room particularly?" she asked as she flipped open her ledger. "We can try to hold it for you again."

"I don't know if I liked it better than any of your other rooms since I had only been in the one, but yes, I very much enjoyed my last few nights here."

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"That is wonderful to hear. I'll note that you might be returning, and we'll keep that room open unless we fill up this evening. I don't see that happening tonight, but it's possible. Unlike next week, of course," she added. "Once folks start trickling in for Founder's Day, you'll have a hard time finding a room in the Fort."

"Someone mentioned Founder's Day to me a couple of days ago. I didn't realize it was so soon."

"Ten days to go. We get folks from all over the Horn. Even people from the Cazmaloq, the Northlands, and the southern desert. They come from all over to celebrate with us. It is a great time to see old friends and make new ones. I hope you'll stick around. You will surely have a grand time."

"I plan to. Thanks." Joe handed her the key before turning toward the dining room. He had been assured that breakfast this morning was part of last night's rental. He considered sitting and taking his time, but he was too full of energy. He wanted to walk and look around town. Stepping up to the buffet table, he pulled out a basket from his dimbag and used a sheet of waxy parchment the inn provided to line the wicker container. He had seen many patrons do this, so he knew it was acceptable behavior.

He grabbed a handful of drum-plums for himself and Mojo. These fruits tasted almost identical to the plums from Earth, but they had flat tops like their namesake. He also grabbed six egg-scones. The egg-filled pastries were quickly becoming his favorite breakfast food.

He kept out one plum and one scone, and then let Mojo pick which he wanted; Joe would have the other one. He got the egg-filled pastry, which, honestly, was the one he wanted first anyway. The scones were crumbly, so he waited until he had exited the inn before taking his first bite. Mojo happily chomped down on his plum the moment Joe started on his scone.

By the time they reached the Crafters Market, each had had a second helping of fruit and pastry. The open-air bazaar was crowded this late in the morning. The hubbub of voices was louder, but it was not so packed that moving through the crowds presented any problems. The first place he headed for was Chanaquoth's stall. The miscellaneous magic-item merchant had been very helpful when Joe had been looking for a wand before his second try at the badboons.

"Morning Chanaquoth. Do you buy monster trophies? I have a handful of baboon fangs, hide patches, and hair."

"Sure, I buy and sell pretty much anything you adventurers come across," the broad-shouldered dunian replied. "Which is why I am here by your guildhouse and not in the Cargo Bazaar. Low-level fangs are only going to get you a few silver each. The fur is useful to make into monster thread, but it will also not sell for much. The general rule of thumb is: the higher the level of the monster, the more valuable the part is. But even then, there are exceptions. For example, full pelts are obviously worth more than small trophies."

"Fair enough." Joe placed the lesser monster items on the counter, which Chanaquoth rounded up to four gold pieces. "So I also found these great throwing nuts, but they got blown up. This guy likes to throw stuff, and he's good at it. Is there something I can get him to store and/or enhance his projectiles?"

"You could get him something that does both if you want. There are other types of bullet bags. Yours has [Arming], but there are ones that will empower the shots, too. Let's see what I have. One sec."

The brown-skinned merchant headed to the other side of the stall, drawing Joe with him. There, he had storage items: a whole variety of pouches, purses, satchels, and sacks. He picked out eight pouches and laid them on the counter. Joe identified them and saw the bullet bags each had descriptors: Deadly, Harrowing, Brutal, Biting, Icy, Toxic, and two with Fervid.

"That one," Chanaquoth announced, laying a finger on the one with the Deadly enhancement, "will cost ya a pretty price. Major damage to any shot that spends just half an hour inside. Brutal and Biting are median damage. The only difference is the damage type. Biting will make the shots inflict piercing damage instead of the crushing from Brutal. Icy has a modest damage boost and a minor slow effect. Toxic has no direct damage boost on impact but adds a damage-over-time component." Lastly, he pointed at the remaining pair of bags. "Fervid is a popular choice because shots only have to be inside for five minutes to get charged. The boost is both a minor attack speed enhancement and median or modest damage, depending on which one you want."

Joe liked the Fervid ones. That is, until he saw the price tag. He only had sixteen hundred gold to his name, and these each cost over a thousand. Seeing his customer's frustration, Chanaquoth held up a 'wait-a-minute' finger and scooped a pair of rings from his jewelry case. One was a simple gold signet ring. The other one was a clunky-looking thing with a large, square brown quartz crystal adorning it.

"This is a common [Coin-Purse Ring]," the merchant remarked, presenting the signet ring. "Nothing fancy. You fill it with coins, and when you want one, it pops out the desired coinage. It's not even an Arming enchantment. Just a simple Sorting one. These go for forty gold. You can get cheaper ones that don't allow you to pick the coin type, but no one ever buys those."

The dunian held up the other ring. "This is a [Jeweler's Storage Ring]. It is designed to hold gems. It has a larger storage capacity than your typical [Coin-Purse Ring], and it holds slightly larger items. Nothing much bigger than this, though," he stated, making a loop of his middle finger and thumb. "It could work for him. It's a bit big for his hand, but you could hang it around his neck on something, and he'd just have to touch it to get his stone. Usually, these go for a couple of hundred, but I've had this thing kicking around for ages. It's such an ugly thing, no jeweler wants it, and its per-item size is too small for popular items, like potions. I'd let you have it for one hundred."

Joe breathed a sigh of relief. "You know what, I'll take both. I can afford one fifty. I can't do the thousand plus. You're the best, man."

The earthy merchant bobbed his head in thanks and grinned at Joe. "Happy to help. You know what, I'll throw in a cord for you." He opened a cigar-box-sized container, which was full of chains, ribbons, and leather strips. They selected a strong, soft braided cord and tied the ring to it.

When they presented it to the small broodling, Mojo yipped happily and yanked it over his head. Clearly, the little guy had been following the conversation more than any dog he had ever had before. Looking at the jubilant pup, Joe added an item to his to-do list, which was figuring out just how much vocabulary Mojo understood.

They hung out with Chanaquoth's for a while longer before he and Mojo left to go puttering around the rest of the market. Joe spotted a number of cool things that he was interested in, but he decided to keep a lid on his spending for the time being. When their wandering path brought them full circle around the Crafter's Market, they strolled back up Skill Street toward the guild house.

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