Vendors & Economy¶

Silver is the game's currency, earned from kills and from selling loot. Where you sell matters: gem dealers pay far more for gems than a general pawnbroker does.

Selling and buying¶

SHOP   (STORE)    show the vendor's terms (the rate they pay)
SELL <item>       sell a held item for silver
SELL <container>  sell loose trade goods, keeping tools and supplies inside
SELL <container> PELTS  sell only pelts (GEMS and COINS also work)
SELL RUBY TO ASSAYER  choose the merchant for a held item
SELL POUCH GEMS TO ASSAYER  choose both the goods and the merchant
APPRAISE POUCH GEMS TO ASSAYER  check that merchant's offer first
APPRAISE <container> PELTS  quote that same selection without selling
BUY <item>        buy from a vendor's stock (where available)

The vendor must be in your room. Hold individual items; a container can be held or worn. Open a worn container before offering its contents. Selling applies a short recovery.

Selling a whole haul¶

Offer a held or worn container and the merchant sorts its loose gems, pelts and coins, priced one by one at their usual rates. The container stays with you and keeps the rest still in it. You can keep a backpack worn and both hands full during the sale. When several merchants share a room, add TO <merchant> to SELL or APPRAISE. The named merchant must be present, alive, and a trader; an unknown or ambiguous name takes nothing. Without TO, the default merchant handles the deal. SELL BACKPACK PELTS selects only pelts, while SELL POUCH GEMS selects only gems; categories can be combined. Tools, rations, lanterns, oil and spare containers stay inside even in an unfiltered sale. A gemcutter leaves skins and pelts in the container; a furrier leaves gems and other valuables. Their trade restrictions apply even when you do not add a category to the command.

A container deal is struck by the handful. The merchant says how many pieces stay inside and why:

Held back	Why
What they don't deal in	Junk, or goods outside a specialist's trade — a gem dealer won't take your pelts
Jewelry, and anything itself holding goods	A set piece with a maker and a setting is valued one at a time; and a case or second pouch with your goods still in it is your business, not theirs
Tools, equipment, food and other supplies	These are priced individually instead of being swept up with hunting loot
Anything with a weave in it	An enchant or a worn imbue. Nobody prices an enchantment out of a sack sight-unseen
Goods outside your requested categories	`SELL BACKPACK PELTS` leaves gems and coins inside

Held-back goods can still be offered one piece at a time, subject to the merchant's normal trade restrictions. Hand the dealer the ring itself to get its individual offer.

APPRAISE <container> runs the same sort for free and quotes the total without taking anything. Add the same categories, such as APPRAISE BACKPACK PELTS, to check the selected batch before selling it. The container can be held or worn; a worn one must be open.

Past the till: a promissory note

A merchant keeps only so much spare silver on hand. When a payout is worth more than the till holds, you're handed a promissory note instead of coin — REDEEM it at the bank. Same paper the bank itself mints, and it's yours to carry or hand off.

Writing paper costs the merchant something, and they take it out of the face value: a small surcharge of about a fifth of a percent. On a 15,000 silver haul that's 30 silver. Payouts too small to round up to a whole silver cross free.

Vendor types¶

Type	Buys	Rate
Pawnbroker / general	almost anything	~70% of value
Gemshop / gemcutter	only gems, jewelry, precious goods	a premium rate, well above the pawnbroker
Furrier / skin buyer	only skins, hides and pelts	a premium rate for hunting trophies
Locksmith	services only	fee-based

Sell gems to the gemcutter, not the pawnbroker

The pawnbroker pays roughly 70% of value on everything. The gemcutter pays a premium specifically for gems and precious goods — often several times what the pawnbroker would offer. Carry gems and jewelry to the gem dealer.

Coins found in treasure boxes are money, not loot: GET pockets a coin pile straight into your silver (the object is consumed and the amount is reported — no need to visit a vendor). Should a coin object ever end up in hand by another route, it still sells at full face value with no vendor cut.

The Coldhollow market¶

The market quarter runs southeast off Town Square. All trade is open — no quest or combat gate. See Coldhollow for the full layout.

Vendor / service	Offers
Smith	weapons, basic armor, weapon repair
Apothecary	potions, healing supplies
General store	miscellaneous goods
Furrier	hides, light armor, cloaks
Gemcutter	premium gem/jewelry buying
Locksmith	`OPENBOX` (for a fee), `REPAIR` lockpicks
Banker	silver handling
Cleric	blessed goods, services
Innkeeper	lodging, food

Locksmith services¶

OPENBOX <box>    pay to have a lock cracked (the locksmith refuses trapped boxes)
REPAIR <pick>    restore a bent or worn lockpick for a fee

The OPENBOX fee scales with the box's lock difficulty. See Lockpicking & Treasure.

Where silver comes from¶

Kills award modest silver directly.
Selling loot: gems, jewelry, and oddments.
Box coins: pocket straight into your silver when you GET them.
Box valuables: gems and jewelry, sold (premium at the gemcutter).

STAT and INFO show your current silver.

Talking to townsfolk¶

Vendors and residents respond to social interaction, and some are mentors:

TALK <npc>             greet or speak with them
TALK <npc> <message>   say something specific for them to answer
FEED <npc>             offer food — the strongest rapport-builder
SAY <words>   (')      speak aloud to the room
LEARN   (STUDYFROM)    ask a mentor in the room to teach an element word

Rapport built through FEED and TALK is what unlocks a mentor's teaching. See Magic → Learning words and Coldhollow.

Haggling & the secondhand shelf¶

SHOP prints a numbered listing — the fresh stock first, then the secondhand shelf, where gear the shop has bought from adventurers goes up for resale (once each; sold is gone). ORDER <#> buys the numbered line; BUY <item> still works by name, including items on the shelf.

The Trading skill bends every deal your way: sell offers up, purchase prices down, one percent per 3 ranks to a ±15% cap, and the price SHOP quotes is the price you pay. APPRAISE <item> with a merchant present quotes the exact offer SELL would pay, flooding included, for free.