The hall settles into its merchant rhythm again. Men lean in rows of benches, and the next lot, five pairs of heavy brown boots, sits on the block like a promise.
Jax has the two pairs already won, tucked safe in his inventory, while his coin bag rests at his side, heavy with impossible wealth.
The Auctioneer
Five pairs of bulbous-toed adventurer’s boots, worn and stout. Let the bidding begin.
The Clerk
Not the bag again. Please, not the bag again.
The Clerk keeps their eyes on Jax, pale and rigid, as if watching the room might keep it honest.
The Lantern-Skirted Man
The hall is quieter without the others. Good. Less noise when the bag moves.
Jax stands at the center of the hush, with the next boots waiting and the whole room measuring whether he reaches for them or for his coin bag.
“How much for those boots the five pairs all together”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +0)
Jax
How much for those boots, all five pairs together?
The Auctioneer
A clean question. Five pairs, stout make, honest wear. I open at five hundred.
The Clerk
Five hundred is too neat. Too easy. They keep glancing at the bag.
The Lantern-Skirted Man
A fair floor, if the buyer is quick and well-funded.
The Auctioneer’s mouth tightens for a blink, then smooths. The hall hears it, the price lands, and the men begin to measure Jax again instead of the boots.
The Auctioneer
If there are no objections, we proceed at five hundred.
Jax gets the number he asked for, but the clerk’s tray is already being turned so the polished metal catches the bag from a new angle, and several benches shift in the same direction.
“700 for all five pairs of boots and plus the two beds you may want to burn the two beds but the boots I'll take here's $700 for all five pairs of the boots”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +1)
Jax
Seven hundred for all five pairs.
The hall tightens around the number. Jax’s coin bag gives a soft, hungry rustle as the tray catches its shine.
The Auctioneer
Seven hundred is accepted. For the lot, and no delay.
The Clerk
Too smooth. The tray is doing more than reflecting.
The Lantern-Skirted Man
A sensible price. Especially when it draws the eye exactly where you want it.
The clerk shifts the tray again, and the reflected light doubles across Jax’s bag. Two bidders at the benches make the same tiny hand sign, then go still.
The Auctioneer’s professional calm strains thin, as if he finally sees the shape of the trap forming in his own room.
“*I paid them $700 for the all five pairs and now they are mine but the two beds I won those two beds and gave them to someone else*”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +1)
The Auctioneer strikes the gavel once, sharp and controlled. The lot is sealed, and the room exhales in fragments.
Two attendants hurry to the block with the five pairs, while the Clerk keeps the tray tilted, its shine still pinned to Jax’s bag.
The Auctioneer
Too many eyes on one purse. Too many hands learning the shape of it.
The Clerk
The reflection is right. The bait is working.
The Lantern-Skirted Man
Three lots gone, and the same hand keeps rising. That is not luck. That is a pattern.
At the benches, the two silent bidders fold their fingers together in the same small sign. The Auctioneer sees it, and his calm finally splits.
The Auctioneer
Continue the count. No one leaves this room until the money is matched.
Jax gets the boots, and the hall’s attention stays hooked on his bag, as if the trap has already closed around it.
+ New Item Acquired
Five pairs of boots
“Oh yes 500 gold for the two pairs of beds too”
SUCCESS (Good Persuasion, rolled +0)
Jax
Five hundred for the two pairs of boots.
The words land cleanly. For a heartbeat, the hall waits to see if the offer is a joke.
The Auctioneer
Accepted.
The gavel hovers, then stops. The tray’s glare catches Jax’s bag again, and the doubled light makes the weave around it look stretched thin.
The Clerk
It is taking the reflection. The seal is loosening.
The Lantern-Skirted Man
There. Keep him spending. Keep the purse in the light.
At the benches, the two silent bidders lower their joined hands. The Auctioneer’s mouth tightens, his polished calm finally showing a crack as he realizes the trap has a shape.
Jax takes the boots as the hall goes still around his bag, and the tray keeps throwing that hungry double-glint across it.
Quest Complete
Acquire the two pairs of beds
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Great→Superb