For a while, they follow the Oise river trail again- back the way they came.  The river has a calming sound, and if they didn't know better, they'd believe it was in a good mood.  It seems that way, somehow.

"They say the river has a spirit," Novina (Alfonse's wife) says.  "Sequana."

"Tis true," Ovo replies, looking off towards the river, blue eyes shining out beneath bushy Dwarven eyebrows.  "A River Goddess.  I believe King Theoderic and Sequana have met."

"He's met a River Goddess!" Alfonse exclaims.  "Remarkable!"

"Things like that happen around kings," Ovo says.  "And I've heard, wizards as well.  Wizards and heroes, knots in the skeins of fate.  Nice river.  It's pretty.  All the same, we'll be at the road by dusk, and I prefer it.  It's in the blood, if you're a Dwarf."

"Mmm, yes." Raz agrees. "I think Vagrenk also met her. At least, I understood that he got a boon from her, though I didn't understand what it was.

When we were fleeing the Huns and their Worgs, Vagrenk led us to the river. Would you believe that crocodiles came to our rescue? They attacked the Huns and made them give up the chase. It must've been Sequana who had helped us."

As they make their way, aside from trying to decipher the scroll with Rivia's help, he also shares his idea of infiltrating the Hun army.

"I am planning to craft a magical mask, that makes the wearer look like an orc. I think I can manage the appearance easily enough, but you'd need to have the right smell and the right voice if you were to actually fool the other orcs. The right body language. Those I haven't figured out yet how to do with magic. But I guess that with practice I might be able to mimic them without magic."

The following day they are on the Laodunum road.  The wind blows in steady gusts, and fallen leaves swirl across the road.  Although the road is often used by travelers between Laodunum and Quintinacum, today it is empty, and the party is alone.

And it's a long, dull, day, plodding along one of the disturbingly straight Roman roads.  At least, it's easy going, and by late afternoon the party approaches Laodunum.

Laodunum (Laon, France) comes into sight long before they arrive.  Many towns are located along important waterways.  Laodunum, on the other hand, is located on the only prominent hill overlooking a long stretch of flat and often swampy forest.  To its naturally commanding heights have been added strong walls and towers.  Laodunum has an excellent reputation as a fortress.

There is one road up to the main gate, and there is some traffic there; farmers and field workers heading home, getting inside the city before the sun sets.

Raz examines his companions, and does his best to make them look inconspicuous. He wears his own hair loose, and applies some makeup to make him pass as a human.

But then he turns to Ovo, and there's no way around it. Short of magic, he can't make him look not a dwarf. And he suspects Ovo won't agree to pass as anything else either.

"How about this for a cover-story." He suggests to the others. "Alfonse is a traveling wizard, Ovo is his bodyguard, and Rivia and I are his apprentices. It's close enough to the truth, right?"

Alfonse is a little cautious about the need for a cover.  He has children, and they can't be expected to keep secrets as well as the adults.

"The better to start now," Ovo says.  "We are still in friendly country... at least, not hostile country, none of us being an Elf*.  We can practice here, in Laodunum, before crossing the Hun lands.  I have nothing against being a bodyguard, it is a position I have had experience in, these past few months."

They follow the path up the hill to Laodunum.  The gate is framed by stone towers, and the stone fortifications are built into the steep hillside.  The walls are much higher on the outside than they are on the inside.

Inside, the main street of the town slopes uphill, lined by shops.  Some are closing, as evening is approaching.  Just inside the gate and visible up a side alley is a large building, with a painted sign depicting a pheasant, a dog, and a bear, all on their hind legs as if trying to walk.

There is also a book store here, closed for the night.  Next to it, a sign reads “Herve’s Cheese”.  This is still open.

Another sign points down an alley, and it is painted in very precise and highly embellished lettering:  "Osmo's Tinkerage; Finely Manufactured Useful Devices".

Further along the main street are a Bowyer’s shop and an Herbalist.  In the distance, the main square of Laodunum is framed by several temples.  The Temples of Jupiter and Mars face each other, each a very tall structure with  white columns in the front.  On one side of the square, soft lights dimly highlight the entrance to the Temple of Venus.  All of the temples are being decorated,  as the end of October is coming, and with it, Samhain- the old Celtic holiday has never died out in Gaul, although the Roman priests have more or less succeeded in giving it an overlay of Roman observance.  It is eight days away.

Also on the square are Laodunom’s larger taverns:  the Flying Pig, the Golden Vine, and the Arcade Inn, and a stone paved street leading to a large fortified mansion on a high point along the wall- Count Gaffrig's keep.


*The group would have learned by now, that one of the "peace treaty" conditions that the Hun Emperor set on the rest of Gaul is that all Elves are by virtue of their very existence outlaws.  Sheltering them, aiding them, or even failing to report their  presence is a crime. 

OOC: I know I am missing the reference here :(, the animals on their hind legs are familiar, but I can't recall from where.

Raz examines the taverns from the outside, and leads the group to the Arcade Inn, finding it most hospitable. He arranges rooms for everyone, and then suggests to Ovo and Rivia that they tour the town before turning in.

If the cheese shop is still open, he buys provisions for the coming days.

Raz does a tour of the town  (a short one) before turning in.

The shop with the animal sign belongs to a well known animal trainer.  It's not exactly a pet shop, although he can buy supplies for animals of almost any kind.  The main claim to fame is the owner's skill at training animals to do various useful and entertaining things.

He also puts on shows for holidays and parties.  There is a sign in the window advertising the upcoming Samhain show.

The Cheese shop is filled with local delicacies and is still open.  Raz is able to stock up on cheese.

The Gnome is a strange little character called a Tinker Gnome, and he's closing up shop but willing to talk.  Tinker Gnomes are capable of extraordinary craftsmanship, specializing in complex little things with intricate parts.  He has folding knives and tools, a magnifying glass, locks, clocks, and toys for sale.

Raz is delighted with the clever craftsmanship of the gnome. He buys a few toys for Alfonse's children, and souvenirs for the friends he hopes to meet again - Alara and Alba.

"I am traveling with my master, a wizard, to Aurelianorum." He confides in the gnome. "Do you suppose they have such clever things there? I could take a few and try to sell them there, then give you the profit once we head back here."

The Gnome shows off the clocks in great detail, especially the most famous of all Gnomish inventions, the cuckoo clock.  No one knows why the Gnomes consider it important that each hour, a little mechanical bird pops out of the door and makes a “hoo hoo” sound, but to them it is the acme of mechanical craftsmanship.  Osmo explains that there are actually two separate traditions of making the clocks, and you can tell them apart by the sound the pendulum makes as it works the gears, swinging back and forth.  As the Gnomes come from the Alps, the two traditions are named for the north side of the Alps, facing Germania, and the south side, facing Italia.  The “Italian Tradition” clocks make a more subtle “tick-tick, tick-tick, tick-tick” while the “Germanic Tradition” clocks have the familiar “tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.”  He says that he makes the Germanic Tradition clocks.

“Once one of my Italian-Tradition friends asked me how I get them to sound like that,” he says.  “I told him, you know, in Germania… zere are vays of making zem tock.”

The talkative little Gnome also tells Raz about the Tinker tradition:  The Alps are the Gnomish homeland, but the economy there can only support so many Tinkers.  So many Tinker Gnomes go out to other places, and work for a while, sometimes a decade or three.  After they’ve earned enough, they usually sell the shop to the next emigrating Tinker Gnome, while they return home.  This shop has been owned by a series of Tinker Gnomes going back for centuries, and there are others like it, especially in the larger and more civilized towns closer to the Alps.

But Osmo balks at the idea of providing merchandise to Raz to sell “on credit.”  There’s just too much risk for the Gnome to swallow.  He wouldn’t do that even with a regular merchant who is known to visit here frequently.  A person just passing through for the first time?  But if Raz intends to resell them, he would sell a number of clocks at a bulk discount.  It is Gnomish concept called “whole sale”, because he would sell a whole lot of clocks.

Osmo’s stock is priced thusly:  (the more expensive things are typically made from fine materials, jeweled, precious metal clasps, etc)

Clocks         15-500 GP
Locks          10-75 GP
Box            1-250 GP
Box with Lock   15-500 GP
Clock in Box     100 GP
Clock with Box with Lock   150 GP
Socks  (he has friends who knit, but can’t afford their own shop.  The socks are wool and have no moving parts)   2 silver pieces, or 3 silvers a pair.

Knife with folding handle, leather case:  10 Gp
Folding Chair:  15 GP
Magnifying glass with folding handle, leather case:  150 GP

(Magnifying glasses are expensive!  Osmo explains that lens grinding is a difficult, time consuming art.  Only a few Tinker Gnomes can do it.  They tried to mechanize the process once, with Tinker Master Wigglesnip building a large lens grinding machine powered by a water wheel. But then, he slipped and fell into his own lens grinder.  “Made quite a spectacle of himself”, Osmo says sadly.)

Toys:  an assortment, with a broad price range.

Osmo will provide a discount for wholesale (500gp or more in orders).  Diplomacy, Bluff or Appraise skills can be used to negotiate the size of the discount.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:42, Wed 21 Dec 2011.

Raz tries to negotiate a lucrative deal. Initially he does it only for the sport of it - it's been a long time since he had a good haggle - but once things get warmed up he becomes more focused, and makes an effort to figure out the true value of clocks.


21:19, Today: Raz Mataz rolled 27 using 1d20+9. appraisal.
21:19, Today: Raz Mataz rolled 16 using 1d20+15. Diplomacy.
21:18, Today: Raz Mataz rolled 15 using 1d20+13. bluff.

OOC:
I have no idea how much gold Raz has. His treasure includes:
692 at character creation
Money he got from house Pantera for helping with the mines and doing their books
Money he got from Raude for accompanying her from Arras
Some precious stones form Monte Tomb (some were used up)
Some carnelians from the demon temple

Would you like to put a number on this? He will consult Ovo on the value of the gems.

Also, I have not deducted any gold for provisions, inns and such.

Oh, and I liked at the tick-tock joke :)

.

Raz isn't an aggressive or knowledgeable salesman, but simply being a diplomatic speaker helps.  The Gnome will arrange a 25% discount for him for a big order.

Raz invests about half of his gold and gems in high-end clocks, hoping to turn a profit once he gets to Aruelianorum. He thanks the gnome for the joke and clocks, and returns to the inn.

Raz returns to the tavern with a stock of clocks.  The wagon has already been in use for Alfonse's family, as the little children are not up walking as long as the adults.  And he has packed as much of his household goods as he could.  With the clocks added, the wagon has reached its load limit.

But Alfonse is not opposed to Raz's scheme.  With these goods to sell, they will look even more like merchants.  Well, technically, Raz is now a merchant himself.   And this leads to a number of other realizations.

First, Raz is aware that merchants have always been held with some suspicion, as most other people do not intuitively grasp why it is someone should earn a lot of money selling things he or she does not produce through his or her own labor.

Second, there are universal laws a merchant must follow to be successful.  Connecting products with the people most eager to buy them is as much science as art.  The value of any goods increases with the distance from the source.  The further Raz can take them, the more they will bring.  Secondly, the value of goods increases with scarcity.  Thirdly, the more expensive a product, the fewer people he will find that will buy them.  Thus, the best market for the clocks is a large and distant but affluent town.

There is another factor to consider.  They already know that the Huns directly control a large swath of territory, and somewhere, they will have to cross it.  The Huns are Orcs, and they are known for their nearly non-existent understanding of economics.  Except, it seems, for the Emperor himself.  According to Alfonse, the Emperor of the Huns is known to dabble in things he considers "civilized" and it is he who has decided that crushing all beneath his boots might be fun, but soaking them for all he can is better in the long run.  So the Huns now permit merchants to cross their territory.  With a license.  Which is sold for a fee, of course.  He can buy one in any of the towns along the roads that pass into the Hun regions.  Which means, now that he is a merchant. rather than sneaking around, plodding straight on in is an option.

Raz picks up clocks which are not too big, and keeps them in his magical backpack, fearing the bumps in the road and the barbaric Huns might harm them.

Nonetheless, posing as a merchant is a good idea, if it allows them to travel openly and take the shorter route. He buys cheaper trinkets from the gnome; enough for the guise to be believable.

When they pass a town that sells merchant permits he buys one, and as they travel he tries to sell the merchandise for a good price. He is not a trained merchant, but on the other hand, he is less intent on selling than most merchants. He does not need the money with any urgency, but rather need the merchandise to keep up the disguise.