Ah, Fireside. The little town on the cliff side. This, my friends, is where our story begins. Well, technically, it doesn't, but really, you've all heard the tales of the heroes Vito, Wilhelm, and their successors Ken and Mik. But, the thought of the treasure that the four had sought has been on the minds of everyone, as no one has ever claimed it. Nobody even knows if it exists, save the bold adventurers who claim it to be.

But none of that is important for the moment, as the new day breaks and the marketplace springs to life, the usual hustle and bustle of the town sweeping the dreariness of the shoppers away as they buy their daily necessities. But, today...there is a stranger merchant amongst the crowd. A man shrouded in a cloak that'd probably look better wrapping a bunch of potatoes together. His face was shrouded completely from view under his hood, save for the pale glowing blue eyes that seemed devoid of any pupil or scilera, just one large blue iris. Shouting and holding up a map that seems to be held together only by duct tape, the man waves it about as if he were a preacher.

[b]"YES IT IS INDEED I SWEAR! THE GENUINE TREASURE OF HEROES, THE HORDE OF CHAMPIONS, THE...THE THING OF THINGS! THE MAP OF THE GREAT HEROES KEN AND MIK! ONE OF A KIND AND KIND OF A ONE FOLKS! FOR TODAY ONLY AND FOREVER, I'LL PART WITH THE MAP TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER! WILDEST RICHES, GLORIOUS TREASURE! COME, COME, THERE'S MORE TO THIS MAP THAN MEETS THE EYE!" he projects, loud enough to be heard all throughout the marketplace.



Struggling to carry the heavy load of his meager crop in the wheelbarrel behind him, Rook walked with his trusty farming plow in his hands, eager to sell his goods and get back to plowing for the next harvest. By hand. Not the richest little guy in the village by a long shot, he sweated and groaned as he pulled his cart to his ring-ding stall and simply watched the strange man from afar, daydreaming of what glory the map could lead to. If only he wasn't so poor...and spineless...and afraid of spiders. He was pretty sure a passing adventurer mentioned spiders as big as an anvil to him. The thought of that sent a shiver up his spine, and drove him to fearfully remove his hat, patting it down and looking inside it.

"Safe." he said to himself contently, donning his cap again and threading his fingers together, waiting for anybody to buy his local produce.

Arthur leaned against one of the buildings near the marketplace, messing with the strings of his lute. Just then, a group of three women around his age walked by him. He looked up at them and smiled, before strumming the instrument in his hands. The thing was completely out of tune though and made a horrible noise, driving a few passersby, including the three women, to quickly run away from the horrible noise. Arthur looked down at his lute in irritation, before hooking it onto the outside of his bag, and then leaving his spot to look at the different items for sale. Out of all the noise, a single voice stood out, the voice of a merchant selling a map. Adventure, hmm? Well, women do love adventurers. "Excuse me, good sir. For how much are you selling that map?" Arthur asked the merchant politely.

Hargh waddled his way through the crowds of people with his stick and pot in tow. He was looking for a good spot to set up 'shop' so that he could earn enough money to buy some more grub. He walked over to male farmer who had set up shop and of whom which didn't look especially wealthy and sat next to his stall. For a moment he sat there perfectly positioning the pot until he began to bang the stick against the pot as hard as he could and yell out "AGGGHHH-AGGGH-ARGGGHH-ARRRGGHH" yelled the small creature as he hoped to soon attract some customers.

The man turned to Arthur, his eyes turned a soft green as he gleefully exclaimed: "YES! A STRAPPING MAN TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE! FOR SUCH A HANDSOME MAP, I WOULD HAVE YOU PAY...hhnghnnhhnnnn" the merchant muttered the last bit, actually writing on his own cloak a hefty number of zeros. As in...a googlplex. "HIGHEST BIDDER TAKES IT, UNLESS YOU WISH TO PAY THIS MUCH!" he exclaims once more, proudly showing the HEAPING number of zeroes...and like, one three near the middle, then a one at the end. Needless to say, the merchant was a bit off his rocker in terms of pricing.



Rook yeeped as he heard the loud banging and yelling, nearly falling over on his back as he turned to his side. Oh, it was just Hargh. Just before Rook was thinking of a way to ask him to stop...he had a customer! Seemed like someone had seen the two charity cases at the stand and couldn't help but buy a cabbage from Rook, and drop a few coins for Hargh. Turning to the little guy, Rook grinned and said: "Good job! Keep doing that, and I'll let you have some of these!" he said, holding up a large sack of potatoes. Hey, charity business was better than no business.

Amon let out a sigh of relief as he escaped the smothering affections of his mother, just having narrowly avoided her attempts to set him up with some new doctor spouting the latest "Marvels of medicine." Despite knowing that she did it all with love in mind, Amon was glad to feel his scales beating a quick retreat across the streets towards his home away from home, soaking in the rays of the sun beating off his back waking him from his lethargy. He breathed deeply as he entered the marketplace, listening to the music of buisness, the sales men seeming to have already started the daily play, ever changing yet always constant.

One new merchant seemed to be gathering quite the crowd, though wether that was because of his item or his...sales pitch was to be determined, although the man certainly had theatrics down, the man's antics drawing a chuckle from Amon as he watched the show, still unsure just what was being sold.

As he tried to determine what was being sold, only being able to figure out it was a map to something, and an unholy price that made him cringe at the sloppy salesmanship, a new ruckus grabbed his attention, turning his head to see the strange creature banging away on on what looked like a pot next to Rook, a merchant he recognized from a few of the guild meetings, though he had barely made guild fees this year, but his stall seemed to be doing a bit buisness so maybe his luck had turned. He made his way over to the stall, tossing the strange hand creature a few coppers as he came by in the hopes that, if not stopping, he may yet beat the pot less enthusiastically.

Looking the selection over before grabbing one of the better looking veggies, tossing the short fellow a large gold coin for the item and coiling up beside him, gesturing towards the map merchant, " seems an awful lot of fuss for a piece of paper, what's got the pliable masses in a frenzy this time," he asked with a grin, hanging his hat off the corner of the stall as he absentmindedly bit into his recently purchased potato, grimacing at the taste of raw potato and discretely putting potato away.

Hargh smiled widely as the one customer gave him coin and as he was promised the sack of potatoes by the stall owner he did a fist pump with his head hand and began to yell and bang at the pot more vigorously than before. He was playing so loud he only just noticed the snake man come by and begin talking to the stall owner. Hargh stopped his pot banging and stood up. He walked over to the stall and stood beside the snake man while looking up at him with a face that could only be described as a face of either determination or constipation, Regardless of which it meant it would have still been unsettling to most people to see the little hand man starting at you.

"Ok, just take it easy now and it should heal in a couple days," Vella said after finishing treating and bandaging a person's wound.

"Thank you for doing this," the patient said, holding out a pouch of coins. "Here is the payment."

Taking the purse and placing it into her bag, she left the small house, turning back only once to say, "Take care now." She smiled. Another life treated with kindness and respect. If only everyone could be treated like that. Alas, the world is not that kind. Oh well. Placing her hood over her head, she walked along the path to wherever it would go.

As she walked, she came across a bit of a commotion. She turned to look, and found that it involved a map of some kind. Grand adventures and riches were promised, but Vella learned long ago not to trust such foolish children's tales. Still, she wondered who would be dumb enough to go for such a thing. Plus, that ridiculously outrageous price...

Only a fool would consider it. Now that she thought about it, though, perhaps that fool might need help. She had sworn to help those who are deserving of need, and perhaps this might be one of those occasions.

Shuddering as Amon came by his stand, Rook thought immediately about whether or not he'd payed the fees for setting up shop. He was positive he had. Sure he had. But just the sight of Amon and his family sent shivers up his spine; probably because he was scared of...well...most things in general, but snakes were up there. His fears were struck clean though once the man gave his little Advertiser some coins and payed in gold for a potato. With shaky hands, Rook picked up the gold coin and put it in his safety box, giving Amon a respectful bow of his head. Looking up, he was surprised the naga stuck around. Nobody really ever stayed for idle talk with Rook, most were probably afraid he'd ruin their day with his Tuljin-y ways. So, naturally, he was delighted that one of the most influential townspeople was asking him a question.

Adjusting his hat, Rook explained: "Well, Mr. Shukal, he's saying the map leads to treasure and shiny things, lots of other nice things too...said that it was Ken and Mik's map. Do you think its real?" Looking to his side, he saw that Hargh had moved and was now over by Amon. Lifting his head up, he asked: "Something troubling you?

Amon nodded as he listened to the fidgety Tuljin, eyes widening slightly as he heard the names of legends dropped in relation to the map. He'd grown up listening to tales of Vito and Wilhelm when he had been bedstricken, and those tales had evolved to include those of their successors, the rogue and bard duo Ken and Mik. Yet even greater than their tales where those that came with the map they carried, the destination always said to be the same yet each time the brave seemed to come back champions. Why with such a find he could secure the family title with ease, never again having his siblings looking down on him, his father forced to acknowledge his prowess. His pulse quickened at the images flashing through his head. Hell, if such riches and bounties as the tales said were true, he wouldn't even need the families estates, he make a name of his own merits. "Even if it's not the real thing, what a shame to pass a chance to grab the thing of legends no," he finally responded, dreams and long buried hopes resurfacing at the chance to grab them himself.

Turning with excitement to try and get a closer look at the map, he flinched back as he came face to...hand...face of the little performer from earlier staring at him with a focus unnerved him, uncoiling a bit to give him a bit of distance from that stare, "I uh...I don't suppose I can help you little...fellow," he said, anxiety showing in his voice as he tried to discretely look around him to the map, his merchant's instincts urging him to try and get over there before he missed a chance to get a bargain, yet years of indoctrinated manners making it impossible to simply dismiss this creature.

Hargh diverted his stare to the shop owner for a moment or two when asked wether he wanted somthing but faced the snake man once more without a word. He stared at the snake man for a minute or two as he made his face become more and more ridged, then with out turning his head he went back over to his pot and stick and sat down, still staring at the Naga. Hargh began to slowly and loudly bang at the pot while keeping his gaze on half snake half man creature.

Arthur looked at the outrageously high price that the merchant gave him for the map. "I, uh, think I'll try my luck at bidding. One coin, please." Arthur quickly turned around, looking at the people around him. He hoped to whatever cosmic being of fate that existed, that no one would be interested in the map. His eyes were practically begging for no one to step forward. Oh, please. Oh, please. Oh, please. Don't let anyone bid against me. I need this. His expression quickly changed to that of fury as a few nearby shoppers came closer. I swear on all the gorgeous women of the world if you even think of it, I'll pull your own arm off and shove it down your throat. His new expression actually got a few would-have-been customers to back down, while the rest gave the idea of purchasing the, possibly fake, map a few moments of consideration.

"Wat de hel is verkeerd met jou ?!" she shouted at her father through the bars, the cell door rattling as she shook with rage. "Dobbel helder oordag ? Jy het om te weet dat dit sou gebeur !"

It was the third time this month. Behind all the anger, that was the thought that filled Arusi's head. Paying off Geldin's bail had cost her one whole month of toil and trouble, so far. Paying this one would mean their finances would be shot. Along with Nontle, Kunto, and Deka, she would be out on the street and starving soon.

"You know how they lie Arusi, the people of this town," Geldin approached cautiously, his mandibles twitching as he wondered if his stronger daughter would try to lunge at him through the bars, like last time. "They just want to keep us poor and licking their boots. Wees kalm my kosbaar ..."

"No... We're done here father. I'm already late for the market. I'm going to sell some pots and try to convince myself that I even want you out again."
---

All she could think about was the way Geldin had called after her. Now that she'd had some time to cool off, Arusi knew that Geldin was afraid. Always afraid. As much as she wanted to deny it, Geldin loved his family. Every theft, scheme, and con was designed to gain a little bit of security for the future.

The real question was what to do now? No one was buying any of her pottery, not while the stranger with the map was putting on his show. She'd also made the mistake of setting up shop near Rook and his little helping hand. Now the little twerp's luck was rubbing off on her.

Despite this, an idea started to form. The map was the prize of the day. If she could get wrangle it into her possession, then maybe she could generate some interest in her stall and even sell off the map later for a profit. The Backpackers had a thing for maps, she could probably sell it to one of them. So with the last two gold coins to her name, she called Arthur's bluff.

"I bid two gold to his one."

Amon watched the strange creature for a moment , unsure how to react to his strange antics, but his attention was quickly grabbed as the bidding seemed to be starting, he wasn't to worried about the bard, Amon barely knew of him, and if he had yet to make a name for himself as a performer, Amon doubted he'd put up too much opposition. He did however start to worry as the pottery merchant chimed in. If one merchant started bidding, others stall owners may yet smell an opportunity, and it could quickly snowball from there. He sighed as he grabbed his hat back from the stall and donning it, winking at Rook before rising on his coils, putting himself a good foot above the others in the crowd and raising his hat to gain the merchants attention, adorning a false bravado, "Ha, I see her two coins and offer my five in their place," he yelled, making a bit of a spectacle of it. It was a bit of a cruel tactic he knew, jumping the offer like that, but he knew these bidding wars could go badly if you couldn't scare off the competition early.

Hargh now stopped banging his pot and stood up he looked away from the snake man and diverted his eyes to the map. Suddenly Hargh's eyes lit up life dragon's fire and he waddled straight up to the merchant. Hargh stared up at the merchant for a moment with his eyes as wide as saucers and slowly and shakily offered up his pot to the merchant then with the other hand he offered up his stick to the merchant, bidding the only two items that were of value to him to the man.

Vella watched as the bid war continued. So far it hadn't gone very high. A measly 5 coins. There was even some odd hand creature thing that looked like it was trying to place a bid by using a pot and a stick for currency. She gave it a moment's thought, wondering if she could get it and then sell it to some poor sucker for some profit. Even if the map was legit and there was indeed treasure at the end of it, she had no need nor want to follow it. And, she did just get paid for a job. Not like she had much to spend the money on besides herbs and food and whatnot.

"10 coins," Vella said, raising her voice to make it audible.

Arthur stood dumbstruck as now several others joined the bid. No. Why? It was going to be mine. He watched as a few surrounding merchants joined the bid, before a strange hand-like creature joined in with his pot and stick. A woman joined in with ten coins, almost making Arthur laugh. As if ten measly coins could contend with a pot and stick that magnificent. He gave a defeated sigh and looked down at the lute in his hands, then he looked back up at the merchant. No, not unless there's no other choice. Arthur grabbed his coin purse and held it up for all to see. "23 gold coins!" he shouted. It was all the money he had. If this wasn't enough then he'd have only one other choice.

Just like that she was shut out of the bidding war. It seemed like she'd also opened the floodgates and been drowned. Even Vella and the little hand thing were joining in. Though Arthur had bet a ludicrous amount for a map that no one could confirm was genuine, she knew it was pointless. That pansy Amon had entered the contest and could outbid them all. Well, maybe.

She still had her pottery. If she was being honest, it was all worth about 30 gold. If she was being dishonest then it was worth 50. But like before, there was no way to know the map was genuine. No, she decided to shush and watch the proceedings.

Amon let out a bark of laughter as the war picked up, enjoying himself, the calm and apathetic demeanor gone to the wayside now that he was on a battlefield he had lived on since birth. He had seen the merchant eyeing the pot the little creature had offered, seeming genuinely interested. Ahhh apparently it's true, all that glitters isn't gold, especially in the eyes of what was at least an eccentric if not crazed man.

Amon shook his head, trying to talk himself out of his next move. He didn't even know if this was the true map, hell he was even sure there was a true map. However each time he managed to talk himself out of it, he saw the faces of his family, the sneering,g of his brothers and sister as they tore apart the family name and business, his mother's voice saying it was to dangerous for such a sickly child, his father looking at him with disgust as all he saw was some diseased shell looking for a hand out. Those eyes he saw everyday, that contempt he felt even when his father was away on trips.
He could feel a determination, a stubbornness welling up he was going to prove them wrong, he was going to be the face of the Shukal family, HE WAS GOING

"250 COINS"

To have to get out of town soon. Horror covered his face as he heard the what had just left his mouth. His brothers and sisters were going to kill him, and that was if he was lucky and his father didn't find out first.

Rook gasped in awe as Amon placed his second bid, the absolutely exorbitant amount of money being bid being enough for the little guy to fall on his butt and say: "M-Mr. Shukal! Y-Y-You ca..."



The Merchant's eyes grew absolutely massive; he'd never expected someone would actually pay that much for that map,and he ESPECIALLY didn't expect the jump from that masterwork pot from the triple-handed man, to a small fortune. Holding the map up, he called out: GOING ONCE TO THE SNAKE MAN WITH NICE HAIR...GOING TWICE TO THE SNAKE MAN WITH NICE HAIR...

At this point, no one dared to try and outbid Amon. Most of the townsfolk thought he was either insane, or just foolish. Or he had the coin to burn and just wanted people to watch.



Rook gulped as he stood back up, shakily poking Amon. "Y-You can't...i-i-it could be a fake! If the Master finds out, it'll be the end of you!" he said, legs trembling, ears trembling, arms trembling, fucking EVERYTHING ON HIM trembling.

Argh stayed indifferent towards the large sum of money, his face still full of hope. The little creature didn't realize that there was likely nothing he could offer to out bid the snake but he still tried. In addition to his pot and stick he now offered up the measly sum of 3 coins, the pot, the stick and now his loin cloth which he held up to the merchant revealing absolutely nothing underneath oddly enough.