On The Fence
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On The Fence
The shopkeeper sighed. “I’m sorry Master Quest. I can’t accept these jewels.”
The tall, handsome adventurer, dressed in a mix of silk, leather and scraps of chainmail pursed his lips. “I don’t see the problem. I give you gems. You give me goods and money. We all go on our way.”
The shopkeeper looked down at the scarred top of table to where the light was faintly distorted. There appeared to be nothing there, perhaps a change in the sunlight caused by the irregular glass of the window. “These, ah, gems, are invisible in daylight. They glow in the dark. I am not familiar with such, such a variety of precious stone.”
He reached out a great paw of a hand and picked up... something? “I assure you they are real. See, I’ll show you again...”
“Please do not scratch my glass window again.” The shopkeeper sighed even deeper, looking over the broad shoulder to where dozens of expeditions to the Undermines had proved the density of their treasure. “If I had doubts over their provenance then it would be simple, I would offer you a handful of florins and sell them to a travelling costumer.”
“So what is the problem?”
“If they are real then they are worth more than my shop and all within it is worth, yet such stones are undoubtedly cursed. So I would be left with nothing and chased to the ends of the earth by howling spirits.”
The adventurer shook his head. “But I need the money. How else will I pay my barbill?”
The shopkeeper smiled. “Well as it happens, I do need a brave strong man to guard a caravan. And in the Hidden City uncanny gems are greatly desired. Are you familiar with the Fell Pass?”
With apologies to Fritz Leiber and The Two Best Thieves In Lankhmar
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