The closer the group got to the town, the stronger the group of bandits that wanted a toll to let them pass through. It was a pretty normal and relaxed experience all the way to the last group of bandits that asked the highest toll, a couple bags of copper and a few of the weapons that the caravan had picked up along the way.
The last toll was really stress free as the bandits were veterans, some even knew the trainers and talked about having a few drinks later on to catch up. Rahz was a little perplex at the whole situation and looked at his dad for answers. Rhaen laughed before saying "Nobody is born a Bandit, many were just common folk before joining an organization and in this case it was the bandit group. They could of joined the adventurer guild or a mercenary group as well; however, they all have rules and many restrict your freedom more than others".
The caravan continue on their way towards the town and very soon they started seeing the outline of the buildings and the tall defensive towers. There was already a line of people coming and going on the road and Rahz could not stop being surprise by the different races and the diversity of the creatures pulling big carts full of goods.
Willowdale was a high 10s low 20s town and as such it had develop quite nicely. The Mayor was a very powerful mage with amazing administrative capabilities which led to the amazing infrastructure of the place. To stimulate trade the Mayor removed the entrance fee for merchants coming in with goods and provided excellent protection to anybody inside the city.
The bandits taxing people outside the city had to behave when they were inside as even their leader didn't dare to offend the powerful mage.
Rahz continue looking around the caravans and found a particular one that had people in cages. There were a few cat people, a couple of halflings and at the back of the caravan there was a dark Elf girl about 12 years old. The little girl was very proud and even inside the cage she had not lost her dignity.
Rahz walked to his father's side and asked," Why are those people in cages?"
"They are slaves to be sold in the market, probably survivors of a war between factions. Why? is there one that you are interested in?"
Rahz was a little taken aback by how nonchalant his father was about the whole issue but he shrugged his shoulders and said "Maybe".
They continued on their way and from time to time Rahz would take glances at the elf girl in the cage to see if her attitude had change but Rahz was disappointed. She was still very aloof and in one occasion when he was caught staring she gave him the finger.
Rahz had always lived in the village and never once had seen the finger gesture before. When Rahz asked his dad about what it meant, the only answer he received was the unreserved laugh of his father that turn to look at the little girl and gave her the thumbs up.
Seeing the antics of father and son brought a smile to the little girl.
The slave trader noticed the interaction between the little girl and the 2 Barbarians and as an excellent business man, he immediately took the opportunity to advertise his product.
"Esteemed customer!! she is a fine commodity and would be auction in the main plaza 3 days from now, her talent is exceptional and is our best catch this time around so do bring plenty of cash"
Rhaen nodded to the slave trader and continue walking towards the entrance. If his son wanted to make a bid then he would help him achieved his goals.
"Move along bumpkin!"
The guards hurried the Helgahvall group as they were not interested in any of what they had to sell, from everyone's point of view anything that they had was trash.
Rahz was starting to get tired of people calling him a country bumpkin and was about to go off on one of the guards but it was quickly stop by his father.
"You can't snap for every little reason, especially with that little strength of yours. If people are ignorant that is their own shortcoming".
The guard standing by the door heard what Rhaen said to Rahz but did not dare to say anything in return, he felt a strong pressure coming from Rhaen and kept his mouth shut. The caravan continued and Rahz was enchanted by the big roads and 2 story buildings on each side of the street. It was way more modern than the wood houses of the village and it was buzzing with excitement.
There were restaurants at each side of the street with beautiful women in maid outfits trying to get people to come in and spend money, there were clothing stores, a Blacksmith, and Apothecary, and even a tamer store where you could buy a mount or a pet.
It was stimuli overload for Rahz, he didn't know where to start and he wanted to experience everything there was to do.
"The first thing we need to do is to sell our ore to the Blacksmith store and the pelts to the clothing store"
It was their task and they couldn't leave it in the cart while they slept otherwise their merchandise could be stolen.
The caravan made their way towards the clothing store first and unloaded their low level pelts. For the younglings like Rahz, it was an eye opener as they understood that the price paid by the village was a complete rip off. Every leopard skin was paid by the village at 3 copper a piece and now at the store he saw the lady pay the trainer 12 copper for just one.
Rahz was glad he came this time around instead of selling his goods to the village not only was he going to get a lot more for them there were plenty of places to expend the money on.
Rahz was not mad at the elders of the village for paying a lot less, there was no malice in their action as all the earnings came back around. Rahz learned later on that trip that the grain and other things bought with the profit from the ores and pelts was also sold at a discounted price back home.
When the portion of pelts belonging to the village was done, Rahz carried his stack of pelts to the manager of the store with a smiling face that soon turned upside down. The manager paid Rahz four copper less than what he paid for the same ones that came from the village. Rahz frown and asked, " Why are mine cheaper?".
This time it was the managers turn to get annoyed at the country bumpkin that did not understand anything about fashion or clothing for that matter. The manager lifted up one of Rahz pelts and said ,"There is not a single complete pelt among them!! Even the level 9 Artic Bear that should be worth 16 copper a piece is worth less than 10 when is broken in two halves. Didn't your elders thought you to keep the pelt intact"
Rahz scratch his head and realized that he was told that before but his Axe was not the most gentle of weapons. At the end of the transaction Rahz still manage to receive 9 silver due to the shear number of pelts he brought with him.
The trip to the blacksmith was a lot better than the clothing store. The shear amount of copper he had accumulated through the years was even bigger than the supply the village brought with them. The copper was bought by the pound and when everything was set and done Rahz made 80 silver coins.
In the realm of Elysian the majority of the city and towns operated in copper, silver and gold. 100 copper coins made 1 silver coin and 100 silver coins made 1 gold coin.
Adding together all his earnings Rahz was close to having his first gold coin. It might not sound like much but if we take into consideration that a dinner on a restaurant was 2 copper coins Rahz could live for a every long time on the money he had earned hunting.
Before Rahz could say I am rich, his dad put away the coin pouch and told him he would keep it for him. Rhaen then gave Rahz a smaller pouch with 5 silver coins of spending money which upset Rahz a little bit but at the end of the day he knew his father was looking out for him.
The group made a final stop at the apothecary to sell the low level spirit herbs and then continued on to look for a place to rest.
The trip to Willowdale only took a couple of days to make but since Rahz need it to complete his evolution task, the group was in for a whole week of new experiences and some good eating.