Submission (#134) Approved
User
Prompt
Submitted
2 January 2024, 10:30:44 EST (10 months ago)
Processed
4 January 2024, 09:07:59 EST (10 months ago) by Nuclearlolly
Comments
“Welcome, Welcome! Gather around, you’ll never guess what I have in store today,” shouted Marina, the illusion of water surrounding her horn seeming to turn into a tidal wave as the words she said spilled from her mouth. She usually sailed around while selling her items, going to various places to scam fellow corceis, but she decided to set up shop in her hometown today. She was born and raised in Rosea, only deciding to sail across Postinen a few years ago, but she came back to Rosea every chance she got. Not only to sell items, but to meet up with her partner, Dice.
Dice was a mysterious corcei, barely talking unless around Marina, but he had his ways of making money. Not only did he get a small portion of the profit from Marina’s sales due to helping in the scamming process, but he unfairly gambled in situations where he knew he was going to win.
“Ah, Dice. My regular customer! How are you doing?” Marina asked, pretending not to know Dice at all.
“I’m fine, thank you,” he replied, “What do you have in stock today?” he questioned, already knowing what Marina was selling.
“Well, I have an aphrodisiac fruit, a few mirror keys, and quite a few spells I can teach,” Marina responded.
“I see,” Dice pretended to ponder his choice for a few seconds before finally choosing what he wanted, “May I have one mirror key?”
“Of course! That’ll be 25 crystal shards please,” she remarked, listing her unfair price to the red corcei.
Dice reached into his bag and pulled out 25 perfectly recreated faux crystal shards and handed them to Marina. The exchange was made, and as he turned around, he saw a very angry beige corcei in line behind him.
“May I help you?” Marina asked, but the corcei stormed towards the small market stand, turned towards the rest of the line, and started announcing something.
“Corceis of Rosea, I have come to announce that Marina is severely overpricing her items!” A few gasps rose from the crowd, but no corcei stormed off.
Dice shot her a nasty look, “What are you doing?” he questioned, “I just bought an item, and I know my prices.”
“No you don’t! Mirror keys are 10 crystal shards, and you just purchased one for 25!”
“Calm down everyone,” Marina spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, “there is no need for this. What’s your name?”
“My name? It’s none of your business! I bought an aphrodisiac fruit from you for 150 crystal shards the other day. Then I go to multiple other markets to find out that they’re only 80!”
Marina was too stunned to speak! She’d never had a former customer get this angry, and when they did, she was usually able to hire a hitman before something like this happened. After a long pause, she managed to blurt out a rage-filled reply.
“How dare you assume I overprice my items!” she screeched, “I found and harvested all of these myself, I’m allowed to price my items at whatever I please!”
The beige corcei wouldn’t budge, but they bared her fangs in a snarl. “So? There’s no way you spent 150 crystal shards worth of your time harvesting an aphrodisiac fruit!”
“Labor cost is subjective!,” they yowled above the gossiping crowd, “I’ve seen people price aphrodisiac fruits at only 50 crystal shards because that’s what they thought their labor cost!”
“Oh really? Because I have never, in my entire life, seen an aphrodisiac fruit priced at 50 crystal shards! Stop manipulating your customers because you think you can get away with it!”
“I’m not manipulating anybody! I’m pricing my labor at what I believe to be the correct price plus the base cost of the fruit!”
“I hope you know I’m never buying from you again,” snarled the corcei angrily in an attempt to end the argument.
“Does it look like I care?” the black-and-blue corcei shouted, “because I don’t! One less dissatisfied customer is one less corcei I need to deal with! Leave, or else I’ll make you.”
“Make me?” The corcei stopped in their tracks. They were going to leave, but now they’re curious. “What do you mean ‘make me’?”
“I have a stinger, you know.”
“Fine, but I’ll be back! You just wait and see, your little scam stand won’t be up for long!”
Dice was a mysterious corcei, barely talking unless around Marina, but he had his ways of making money. Not only did he get a small portion of the profit from Marina’s sales due to helping in the scamming process, but he unfairly gambled in situations where he knew he was going to win.
“Ah, Dice. My regular customer! How are you doing?” Marina asked, pretending not to know Dice at all.
“I’m fine, thank you,” he replied, “What do you have in stock today?” he questioned, already knowing what Marina was selling.
“Well, I have an aphrodisiac fruit, a few mirror keys, and quite a few spells I can teach,” Marina responded.
“I see,” Dice pretended to ponder his choice for a few seconds before finally choosing what he wanted, “May I have one mirror key?”
“Of course! That’ll be 25 crystal shards please,” she remarked, listing her unfair price to the red corcei.
Dice reached into his bag and pulled out 25 perfectly recreated faux crystal shards and handed them to Marina. The exchange was made, and as he turned around, he saw a very angry beige corcei in line behind him.
“May I help you?” Marina asked, but the corcei stormed towards the small market stand, turned towards the rest of the line, and started announcing something.
“Corceis of Rosea, I have come to announce that Marina is severely overpricing her items!” A few gasps rose from the crowd, but no corcei stormed off.
Dice shot her a nasty look, “What are you doing?” he questioned, “I just bought an item, and I know my prices.”
“No you don’t! Mirror keys are 10 crystal shards, and you just purchased one for 25!”
“Calm down everyone,” Marina spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, “there is no need for this. What’s your name?”
“My name? It’s none of your business! I bought an aphrodisiac fruit from you for 150 crystal shards the other day. Then I go to multiple other markets to find out that they’re only 80!”
Marina was too stunned to speak! She’d never had a former customer get this angry, and when they did, she was usually able to hire a hitman before something like this happened. After a long pause, she managed to blurt out a rage-filled reply.
“How dare you assume I overprice my items!” she screeched, “I found and harvested all of these myself, I’m allowed to price my items at whatever I please!”
The beige corcei wouldn’t budge, but they bared her fangs in a snarl. “So? There’s no way you spent 150 crystal shards worth of your time harvesting an aphrodisiac fruit!”
“Labor cost is subjective!,” they yowled above the gossiping crowd, “I’ve seen people price aphrodisiac fruits at only 50 crystal shards because that’s what they thought their labor cost!”
“Oh really? Because I have never, in my entire life, seen an aphrodisiac fruit priced at 50 crystal shards! Stop manipulating your customers because you think you can get away with it!”
“I’m not manipulating anybody! I’m pricing my labor at what I believe to be the correct price plus the base cost of the fruit!”
“I hope you know I’m never buying from you again,” snarled the corcei angrily in an attempt to end the argument.
“Does it look like I care?” the black-and-blue corcei shouted, “because I don’t! One less dissatisfied customer is one less corcei I need to deal with! Leave, or else I’ll make you.”
“Make me?” The corcei stopped in their tracks. They were going to leave, but now they’re curious. “What do you mean ‘make me’?”
“I have a stinger, you know.”
“Fine, but I’ll be back! You just wait and see, your little scam stand won’t be up for long!”
Rewards
| Reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| Crystal Shards | 28 |
Characters
