William Cedarbough wandered through the market of Jastery, a brace of bundled hydra skins resting on his shoulder, looking left and right at the stalls present.
"A tailor...I need someone who knows how to turn these blasted things into a belt," he mumbled under his breath.
William finally found a vaguely open spot at the market and sat himself down, pulling out a large piece of parchement and a quill before writing in fairly large writing:
"SEEKING A TAILOR
All materials provided
Payment in gold or raw materials as the crafter sees fit"
Cedar watched as Marloff approached and greeted him, making pleasantries and complimenting the quality of the hides.
"Marloff, yes? I remember seeing you with the Docents and at the meeting of the Tel'Quessir. At any rate, the belt you describe would be more than satisfactory for my purposes. What is your price?"
"Well, lets see..." The empyrean gets a thoughtful look as he makes calculations in his head.
"It would take me 26 days to complete. If you had boon to cut the time needed in half, that would be..." Marloff stops his words short. "I see you are offering a trade of goods. What things do you have?"
Cedar listened to Marlof for a while before responding.
"I am offering my services as a forager. I could gather you supplies while you worked on the belt. Perhaps you desire some mana fragments? Perhaps some hydraskin of your own? You don't quite strike me as the kind to want dragonhide but I've been wrong before."
The empyrean stands in silence for a bit, clears his throat and makes the best offer he can to Cedarbough.
"I have a deal for you. One that will be hard to refuse or even believe. Give me the hides necessary to make this belt and 4 boon. Then within an hour I will return with your belt in hand, ready to wear."
Marloff begins to re-examine the hides for quality and sizing them up for the project. Now reassured that he has made the correct offer, nods squarely, at William.
Cedar considers Marloff for a moment, but looks a bit crestfallen at the mention of boon once again.
"I certainly have the hides here for you. Your offer is most generous, but I am afraid that I have not the boon for it. If it is mana you desire, I should be able to locate two mana fragments within that timeframe. I also have gold to fill any difference that you may feel there may be."
Cedar mentally chided himself for having only his skills as a forager and gold to trade. He kept reminding himself of the old addage of a fool and his money.
Wanting to come to some sort of arrangement, Marloff contemplates the mana and gold offer.
"How about this, two mana frags and 8 gold." Thinking further, he scratches at his beard.
"Four frags, without the gold would do nicely as well, if you had the extra time to spend foraging."
The empyrean, starting to feel concerned that a deal may not be reached, pulls his spell book from his robe and finds an empty space on the back pages. He begins to take down details from his conversation with William for future reference. Perhaps in the coming months, time could be found to wok this project more efficiently.
"Consider my offers. Counter them with one of your own, if need be."
Cedar inclined his head for a moment, thinking, before coming to a decision.
"Two mana fragments and eight gold it is then. Here are the hides, as well as the gold. Thank you very much for being so willing to deal with me."
Cedar offered the Empyrean the two hydraskins as well as the eight gold.
"Very good, my Friend. I will begin work on a high quality belt for you." Marloff said with an air of astonishment as he was worried that his haggling had damped William's motivation to give him the work.
"I will come back into town and find you once the belt is complete."
He leans in and lowers his voice a bit. "I should let you know that my true profession is that of an enchanter. I have become quite skilled. If at some point you feel the need for a little magic imbued on your belt, well I am sure we can come to another arrangement."
"I thank you for your confidence in me."
With that, Marloff tucks the gold and mana into his pouch, gathers up the hides and heads off towards the tower to start work on the feral's belt.
"Hello there fellow Jastrian." Marloff stops to inspect the material displayed as he hears a need for a tailor.
He gives them a good rub with the palm of his hand. "These hides you have here are very good indeed."
"I am not extremely skilled but, I could sew these into a sturdy, high quality belt, given enough time."