5th of Summer, 514 A.V.
"Spices! Fresh Spices from the farthest reaches, only get them here!"
Tyr wandered through the markets, listening to the merchants and hawkers and customers as they argued about prices and quantities and services. His ears were assaulted with constant noise as the voices all tried to climb higher and louder than those next to them. Not only that, but the colors of the markets, the bright fabrics, strange idols, and any number of other things made for a visual riot that was, at times, hard to look at. The smell of spice and incense and food of many persuasions was subtler, but still there as well.
All in all, the young Svefra couldn't quite decide whether he liked the place or not. The bustle of it all was nearly overwhelming, though he should be used to it considering the busy lifestyle of a sailor, but his pod had had times where they all stopped to take in the morning, or to listen to him sing or watch the children play. Here, nothing stopped. There was always activity, someone wandering the streets, drunks in the taverns, merchants with their wares...
That thought, and the slight weight on his shoulder, brought back him to the reason he was here in the marketplace in the first place. When he left his family he had traded some work for a fair supply of salted fish, just in case he had needed it on the journey. In the end he had had plenty left over, and with a decent supply of food and his rather disastrous attempt at making some coin with his singing and fiddling a few days before, he had figured selling of the excess might do him some good.
Such was the reason that he had lugged five pounds of salted fish to market, in hopes of finding a decent merchant. His nose was the first to locate the market he needed. The smell of fish, and the sea in general, wafted to him on the ocean breeze, and he followed it along the streets, doing his best not to bump into anyone as he did so. When he finally pushed his way through the crowds, he found himself faced by a wall of... fish. Everywhere the eye could see, all up and down the docks there were fish markets.
He goggled in wonder for a time, his jaw slacked and an awestruck expression on his face. Never had he seen such a congregation of Laviku's children outside of the oceans depths. The sight was mouthwatering, but also a little sad. So much life now ended, to sit on display here until someone could get the coin to buy them. The singer shook his head to remove such thoughts, he was here to sell fish himself after all, and moved on, diving into the crowds surrounding the various stalls.
He took his time, scouting out individual stalls to see if one might be running short on fish. Despite his inexperience at all this haggling and trading, he knew demand. Eventually he found a stall that was nearly empty, its wares all but sold out for the day, and approached the old man behind it. Dull eyes stared out of a weather-beaten face as he approached, but as the elder caught site of him his eyes light up quick enough and he stood to greet his possible customer," What'll yae be havin' lad? A nice trout? Fresh from the ocean e see. Caught just this mornin!"
Tyr smiled and shook his head, waving the fish away. Instead he gestured to his shoulder at the box perched there," I'm not here to buy friend, I have some extra stock and figured I would sell. A man with a stall would have more luck selling than meself after all." The box made a small thud as he placed it on the counter and opened the lid, gesturing to the fish inside," Fine salted fish from the Moontide pod. Prepared better'n most you'll see round here."
The old mans face, at first skeptical, seemed to light up at the mention of a Svefra pod. After a quick inspection he also seemed to note Tyr's mark, swirling lightly upon his shoulder as it made its slow migration across his body," A Svefra eh? Good fish from the Svefra... For you a fine price eh? Five pounds it looks like here... I'll give you 10 gold for the lot."
Tyr frowned, certain the price was too low. The calculating glint in the mans eyes had him on guard, and he decided to test the waters," Ten gold, surely you're kidding man? Fish this fine would be worth at least 15!" The fisherman's face fell, a stricken look passing over it," Fifteen?! Boy are you trying to break me? I could do no more than twelve for such as this. My final offer sir."
Well... It sounded like a decent price, and the aggrieved look the old man had given him surely meant he had estimated too high, yes?
