Fanged Dragonhide

Awkward

"So you're the new shop keep, eh?  Yulie... Kohdyna.  Hm."  The local merchant guild representative is a middle-aged man with a bushy mustache and a bowler hat.  He looks you up and down, gaze lingering on your horn for just a moment.  "I'm Jack.  Your shop should be set up as per your specifications by now.  I'm guessing you want to head right there, but I doubt you're going to want to leave once you get there, either.  So.  Tour first."

He leads you through the town.  It's not very large, and doesn't take very long.  Most of the buildings are pretty nicely decorated.

"Blacksmith.  Apothecary.  Inn.  Tavern.  Another tavern.  Another tavern...  We don't have much to do in this town besides drink and party.  Here's the guild office.  Bakery.  We've got a few farms outside of town.  There's two other general stores around town.  You can meet up with the competition later.  Anything else...?  Nope, that's about it.  Here we are.  The Fanged Dragonhide."

He points to a building at the end of the street.  A red gate with a bunch of paper lanterns around the outside give it a distinct appearance compared to the rest of the town.

"Wait, no.  There is one last thing.  We need to get you some stock."

Jack pops a key out of his pocket.  He walks over and unlocks the door.  Inside there are a few empty stands and bare tables.

"You've got a budget of 1,000G.  This time, you can order from the list of beginner's stock.  And first delivery's on us.  Next time, you're going to need to import your own stock and everything.  I'll walk you through that once you've made a bit of a profit.  For now, decide what to start with.  I recommend items you think will sell well in this area."

Jack pulls out a device and fiddles with it a bit while scribbling notes.  Then he nods.  "Right, then.  That's set.  Your order should arrive in two days.  You can spend tomorrow getting to know your neighbors.  Harrumph.  And be thinking about how much you want to charge for this stuff.  You can see a price list of what we sell here in Weston, but remember that's the price the local merchant guild charges selling to other merchants.  You should charge more when selling to the people, obviously."

He looks around, then puts the key into your hand.

"That's it for today.  I'll be back when your stock arrives.  You should head to bed, but I'm guessing first you'll probably do some silly little dance once I leave.  Have fun and enjoy it tomorrow."

You wake up the next day.  Looking outside, you see there's a surprising amount of people running around, going about their business.  Several pause long enough to look at your store, then move on when they realize you aren't open yet.

You have some time to look around town today, if you want.  It might be a good idea to scope out the competition - The Red Rose and Hogshead General Goods.  There were some other places that Jack mentioned, as well.  Blacksmith, apothecary, taverns, and whatnot.

Or you could say screw it and sleep.

You head straight to the Red Rose. A red-haired elven woman greets you. "Welcome to the Red Roooooh, hel-lo there. You must be my new competition." She walks over to get a closer look at you. "You're new to the game, right? Well... Good luck!"

"Rose. Mrs. Rose. So how do you like Weston so far?"

"Oh, my husband and I moved here from The Silver Keep going back... oh, 3, 4 years now? I don't really know. When you reach my age you stop really keeping close track of time," Rose says.

Hashtag-humble-brag much? Fuckin' long-livin' elves...

"I can't say Weston depends on us too much. That would probably be Hogshead. We sell a little of everything, but we mostly specialize in flowers. Of course. But I'm sure Dear Jack will tell you all about that later..."

"Don't we all?" Rose agrees. "If you ever need some advice, just come ask. Actually maybe go to Jack first. He's the representative, after all. He needs to earn his keep."