Chapter 12

Several days after her encounter with the wolf, the trees started to thin out. Marion could see signs of civilization start showing up. It was still another day before she left the forest behind entirely.

It took Marion another day for her to reach the outskirts of the city. The first thing she noticed were the walls. They were at least 30 feet tall and at least a third of that thick. On the top of the wall, the parapet, and the guards were very impressive looking.

When Marion took a closer look at the guards walking the parapet, they resembled depictions of Dwarves from Earth, maybe a little taller though. Which made sense, because that was their actual race.

The gates in the wall were no less impressive. They looked like two giant slabs of metal four feet thick. It looked like there was reliefs of various beasts, some she recognized, others she didn’t.

Approaching the gate, Marion could see at least a dozen guards casually but attentively watching people going through. Occasionally, they would stop someone to ask questions or search a cart.

One of the guards says to Marion as he approaches “HALT! State your business in Kefjorna.” He proceeds to look Marion up and down, noticing the large wolf hide.

“I’m here to sell a bunch of stuff and maybe get restocked” Marion replies to him. “Oh, I also need to get a weapon repaired as well”

The guard gives Marion directions to the market area and the name of a blacksmith, then gives her a warning not to cause any trouble and waves her through the giant gates.

Marion heard the market district before she saw it. The constant yelling of merchants hawking their goods mixed with customers haggling.

Marion approached one stall that had various hides on it. She swung her pack in front of her and started to take the wolf hide out before the merchant asked her “Is that an Abyss Wolf hide?”

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“I’m not sure, why?”

“You need to take it to my friend to get the full value!”

After a few moments of the merchant persuading Marion, she swings her pack back around and sets off to find this “friend” he claims to have.

After searching for what seems like an hour, and several dubious streets later Marion finds the guy. The smell coming from the building was strong and acidic. There was a little sign hanging out in front labeling the business.

When Marion opened the door, the smell hit her like a ton of bricks. She could hear someone loudly complaining in the back.

“Excuse me?” Marion calls out

CLANG

“I’ll be out in a few!” the shout came from the back.

A few moments later this squat older dwarf comes stumbling through the door while grumbling about various things. During this, Marion pulled out the wolf fur and had set it on the counter. The dwarf was still grumbling under his breath when he reached the spot where Marion was.

“How can I help ya?” The dwarf asked just before he saw the pelt. “This is an Abyss Wolf pelt missy! How did you get this?” His eyes were as wide as saucers as he asked her.

Marion shrugged her shoulders saying “It attacked me, on my way here from the old, abandoned mansion. Caught me off guard, but nothing a few arrows didn’t solve.”

The dwarf couldn’t even comprehend the words she said.

Still shocked, he asked “What are your plans for the hide?”

“I’m not sure yet, I do need some armor. What would you suggest?”

The dwarf scratched his beard in thought “This is a very good pelt. I’ll give ya a couple of options. I’ll buy it like this for 10 gold; I can process it for several silvers since materials like this do not come around very often. I’m not a leatherworker though”

“I’m guessing you know someone who does have the qualifications to take advantage of the quality?” Marion asked.

“With this quality, I know someone who MIGHT fit the bill. They be a bit eccentric though. What do you want to do?” the dwarf asked, Marion could see a bit of eagerness in his eyes.

Marion thought for a few moments before replying “I don’t have a lot of money on me, but I do need to sell a bunch of spider parts. How much will you charge me in total to process the hide?”

“Mmmmm, tell ya what since your new in town and with the expectation of first dibs on any future pelts from you, I will charge you 20 silvers to process it” the dwarf offered. “Consider it an investment, by the way the names’ Belenor”

“Ok, deal. You can call me Marion, nice to meet you Belenor” Marion replies. “Hey, do you know someone that’s an Alchemist or somethin’ I have some monster parts to sell.”

Belenor thought for a moment, “Actually my boy Achimodes is a solid Chemist. He runs a store called The Steady Drip. It’s in the market square; you can’t miss it”