Neko ducks into the tannery's side shop, where heat, vinegar, and sharp herbs hang thick in the air. Glass vials bubble along a soot-dark shelf, and dried bundles sway from the rafters. A young woman looks up from her mortar, stained fingers still grinding green paste.
Her eyes flick over Neko's sword, then to the satchel at his hip. The assessment is quick, cool, and practiced, like she is weighing coin instead of a customer.
The Young Woman
If you've come to sell a story, try the guild. If you've come to sell reagents, show me what you've got.
Neko sets out his salvage and the rare bits from the marsh and ravine. The woman's expression changes only a little, but her hand pauses over the mortar.
The Young Woman
Shell gland, clean enough. Marsh resin too, and this herb is not common. Where did you dig these up?
Bram lingers near the doorway, silent for the moment, while the young woman reaches for a scale and a strip of linen. The open gate behind them lets in a wash of road light, and the shop feels suddenly smaller.
The Young Woman
I'm Hett. I run the place while my uncle barters upstairs. If your haul is honest, I can pay fair. If it's useful, I might pay better.
✓ Quest Accepted
Win Hett’s specialized mixtures
“I place the rarest marsh resin on the counter and ask Hett for recipes and if she has any specialized mixtures.”
SUCCESS (Good Crafting, rolled +2)
Neko
I set the rare marsh resin on the counter, and ask what recipes you use, and whether you make anything specialized.
The resin lands with a soft tack beside the scale. Hett leans in, her practised calm giving way to interest as she tilts the jar toward the light.
Hett
That is better than common trade. Good seal, too. For marsh work, I brew drying salves, leech-stop paste, and a bitter tonic that keeps rot from creeping into cuts.
Hett
If you bring me shell shards or clean gland, I can make you a stronger warding smear for wet leather, and a traveling wash that cuts the marsh stink.
She slides the resin closer, already measuring in her head. Bram watches from the doorway without interrupting, while steam curls around the jars and herbs like a pale veil.
Hett
You hunt often enough to need all that, or are you learning the hard way? Either way, I can keep you supplied, if you keep bringing me honest ingredients.
Neko
The mixture matters as much as the blade.
Quest Complete
Win Hett’s specialized mixtures
“I ask her about the local areas to gather herds and alchemy ingredients all while browsing her shop.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -3)
Hett answers while she works, and the shop becomes a map of her trade. She names a reedflat north of the old ford for wet herbs, a chalky bank for fire moss, and a market hook where hunters leave shell shards and clean glands when the marsh runs rich.
Neko
I want places that keep a steady yield, and supplies that hold up in wet weather.
Neko browses the shelves as he speaks, reading labels on drying salves, sealed tonic flasks, and waxed packets of warding smear. His fingers pause on a jar marked with a dried marsh prowler shard, then move on, careful not to waste time.
Hett
Steady enough, if you know where to look. I can set aside leech-stop paste, rot tonic, and a marsh wash for you. If you bring back clean resin, shell dust, or gland, I will make the stronger mixture.
Bram shifts at the doorway, listening more closely now. The open gate lets in a strip of road wind, and a wet patch of steam hisses where a cloth lies too near the stove.
Hett
The wash will cost extra, but I will not sell you thin stock and call it mercy. Bring honest ingredients, and I will keep honest jars on the shelf for you.
Neko
The shelf prices are clear, at least.
“I buy some ingredients to make healing items and simple poisons for beast hunting.”
SUCCESS (Superb Medicine, rolled -1)
Hett slides a tray toward Neko and begins measuring from it without ceremony. Powder, resin, bitter bark, and a small bundle of dark leaves gather in neat piles as she names each one and taps her tally stick against the counter.
Hett
Enough for healing draughts, enough for a hunter's poison too. Not the finest stock in the city, but it will hold in wet weather if you seal it right.
Neko places coin on the counter and points once to the marsh-safe jars he wants. Hett bags the ingredients, then adds a waxed vial and a packet of binding salt with a practical nod.
Neko
These will do for marsh work.
Hett
Then take them. If you keep bringing clean salvage, I will keep setting aside the strong mixtures for you.
Bram watches the exchange from the doorway, then gives a short approving tilt of the head as the last bundle is tied.
Bram
That is the sort of preparation a hunter remembers.
The bags are in Neko's hands now, stamped with Hett's mark, and the shop feels a little less like a stop and a little more like a supply line.
+ New Item Acquired
Marsh-safe ingredients parcel
+ New Item Acquired
Waxed vial
+ New Item Acquired
Binding salt
“I rearrange by pack to clean up clutter and to put the new ingredients away.”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
Neko turns the bundle into a working pack, peeling the old clutter aside and sliding the new jars and packets into their places with practiced care. The counter clears under his hands.
He tucks the waxed vial into a protected inner sleeve, nests the binding salt beside it, and straps the marsh-safe ingredients down so they will not rattle loose on the road.
Hett watches the packing job over the edge of the counter, then reaches for a fresh strip of cloth and folds it once before setting it with the rest of Neko's supplies.
Hett
Keep them dry, and they will keep you walking.
Bram pushes off the doorway, attention fixed on the neatened kit and the sealed mark on it, as if weighing Neko's habits more than the goods themselves.
Bram
A hunter who packs clean usually returns clean enough to pay again.
The last loose strap cinches tight. Neko's pack sits orderly now, the new ingredients secured and ready for the marsh road.
+ New Item Acquired
Folded cloth
“I thank Hett and head for the road to the armorer to do something with the shell monster head and hide.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +1)