The merchant quarter was as lively as he had expected. Many of the stalls were fixed, but some belonged to traveling merchants. Precisely the type of people he was looking for. His eyes scanned the area until he heard a deep baritone voice, “Hey, Hey, you there. Over here skinny,” a boisterous guffaw followed the words and with it was a burly man with a bushy beard.
The man rushed over and slammed a big hand across Kazimir’s back almost causing him to choke, “Welcome, welcome. Glad you could make it. I can spot you guild types a mile away.” The man’s temperament showed he either didn’t realize the weight of his heavy hand or didn’t care.
Kazimir gave a few coughs and mottled a reply, “Technically I am a page of the rune knights.”
Gaud gave an uncaring shrug, “Whatever you are, I’m glad yer here for me. So, let’s get down to business.
Kazimir looked at the man’s wares and oddities in his shop, “So what all do you sell? Seems like you have a great variety of things.” He stepped around Gaud to get a better look at the common and rare items that adorned his traveling shop. Things that Kazmir had never set eyes on before.
Gaud placed his hands on his hips with a warm smile, “Well you know the life of a traveling merchant takes you a great deal of places to acquire this and that I suppose. He spoke as a man lightly boasting about his collection.
Kazimir kept looking as if he was lost in thought admiring the items and asking where some of the more curious items were gathered from. After a couple of minutes, Gaud replied, “I tell you what. You get this for me and I’ll tell you all you want as well.”
Kazimir snapped out of his trance apologetically, “Forgive me, sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me. Please tell me what you need of me?"
It was now that gaud told him about his plight and the shifty seller to meet at night. He pulled out a hand-drawn map of the area with a marker on it to symbolize where the meeting place was supposed to be. Now, gently tucked in his pack, Kazimir said, “Alright then. I’ll be off to take care of the deal. Sit tight, and I will return with your items.”
At that, Kazimir was off in search of the seller in the dead of night. The streets were still busy with traders and travelers traversing the walkways. He wandered through the streets and different alleys in search of the one matching the crude drawing on the map.
Climbing to the top of a building he tried to give himself more of a vantage point to access where it was. Man, he isn’t making finding this guy very easy. This map is rough, He thought to himself while walking a thin ledge over the streets and leaping the small gap to the next building.
It wasn’t much longer until he noticed some of the finer details in an alley that matched the description from the map. Kazimir climbed down the side of a building and turned into the alley. To his surprise, a man was already standing there. Hidden behind a cloak the figure stood almost motionless waiting.
Kazimir began to step toward the figure…
Wordcount 596/1,000