We made our way through a bustling marketplace where a few looks were given. Lyra's white dress definitely was the stand out, but we quickly made it to the tailor's shop. She approached the shopkeeper who looked friendly enough. He was a stout and portly man looking to be maybe sixty or so in human years.
"Welcome! Welcome my dear to my little shop. I am Jentry. How may I help you today?" the shopkeeper asked.
"I was hoping to exchange this dress." said Lyra showing him the fabric.
"Elven silk huh. Very nice. For the dress. I could do… 1000 silver."
"1000?!" Lyra seemed outraged, "It's worth at least ten times that much."
"Well, it is dirty and you do seem to be in a little bit of a hurry. If you weren't wearing it, I'd think you stole it," Jentry haggled.
"I assure you it's mine. I just- I lost my money and just need some to make it home."
"You have my offer dear," said Jentry opeing his register.
"Fine, but only if you throw in something I could wear in exchange…" Lyra said giving in.
"Done deal. Let me see." said Jentry taking the coins out, putting them in a little bag and then began sifting through some of his products.
I noticed that he put ten coins in the pouch. So each silver coin was equal to 100 units of their currency. Silver must be more common in this world to be used as such. Judging by the amount Lyra got and how much she said it was worth, 1000 silver isn't anything to scoff at either.
Jentry finished picking out Lyra's outfit and then escorted her to a changing room. He slid the clothes he picked out under the door to her after she handed him the dress. I sat by the register waiting for her to return.
After a few minutes, Lyra made her debut. She was wearing a long black sleeve shirt, black tights, a brown leather skirt and brown boots. Now, she definitely looked like a whole new person!
Wow. I can't believe how much cuter she got! What a dream!
She came back over to the register where Jentry was waiting with the money and her dress.
"Oh, hold on a second," she said reaching into a fold of the dress. She pulled out the sheathed dagger she had been carrying this whole time and put it down her backside so it wasn't visible, "Can't forget that."
"Very nice piece, could always sell that and make some good coin too," said Jentry handing her the coin purse from earlier, "Nice doing business with you."
"Oh, thank you. It's kind of a family heirloom of sorts, so I couldn't possibly sell it." said Lyra backing away as Jentry nodded in understanding.
The two of us made for the door, ready to leave, but Lyra seemed to suddenly member something,
"Excuse me Mister Jentry, but is there a place to get maps of the area here?"
"Maps? Well, most roads are a straight shot, but if you're needing specific stuff, you're gonna have to check out the Adventurer's Guild. They keep track of that stuff there. It's out the door and straight down the road to the left. Big stone building, you can't miss it."
"Thank you so much!" said Lyra with a smile.
We exited the tailor shop and Lyra picked me up to carry me again. The streets were busy. One look left and you could see the Adventurer's Guild building easily, so we started journeying that way.
As we approached the massive stone building, we saw even more people coming in and out. These guilds must be the places people go to for everything, because the city really wasn't that big but this place was packed! Lyra began looking in every direction once we were near the entrance to find who could help us or where exactly to go.
"Looking for help?" came a femine voice from behind.
Lyra turned to face the young woman that approached us. She looked like a monster hunting adventurer like myself, strapped in leather armor and small throwing blades with a medium sized hatchet on her hip. Her short pixie cut bright purple hair was the second thing I noticed after how ready for a fight she was.
"Yes," said Lyra, bowing to the new colleague.
"Oh an elf! Cool." said the woman excitedly after seeing Lyra's ears poke out, "I'm Beatrix Plume, you can call me Bea! What do you need help with?"
"We need a map or a guide perhaps. See, I don't really know my way home- er I was usually, escorted… I mean, I just-"
"Ah, it just so happens I'm an explorer! I love mapping out routes," said Bea pulling out a parchment from a satchel behind her back and unraveling it, " Home huh? I assume the elven kingdom? Well, I've mapped to the border and know the way pretty well."
"Really?! Wow, that'd be a great help."
"But if I were to be honest, and around here, a lot of adventurers probably wouldn't be… You could probably hitch a ride on a wagon through the main road for like 200 silver. Any guide is gonna cost a bit." explained Bea.
"Quack." I said tossing my head sideways and Lyra took note.
"Right… well I don't think a main road is going to work for us." said Lyra.
"Hmmm," said Bea pausing to think, "Look, I'll help you, for a small fee IF you teach me some stuff about the elven lands."
"I can do that. I know the routes over there much better!" exclaimed Lyra, perking up.
"Then we've got a deal," said Bea reaching out her hand for a shake of agreement and Lyra reciprocated.
"Thank you so much!"
After buying some food supplies and forking over 500 silver for our guide, we didn't have much money left, but we were prepared for the journey. We spent another fifty on a room for the night at an inn so we could wake up bright and early and get Lyra home.
The night went fast as the morning light from the sunrise hit me through the window. I rushed to wake Lyra. She slowly gathered up everything, checked out and went outside to find Bea all ready to go.