The Life of a Traveling Ward Salesman
Another war torn village, another market place ripe with potential customers. Aegis had set up shop in the middle of the town square while his travel companions, Aster and Mistle, did their thing with the rescue efforts and restoration of the nearby landscape.
From the looks of it, while the village itself didn’t get hit too bad, the houses and farmland in the surrounding area weren’t so lucky. Plenty had been out in the fields when a nearby wizard battle had broken out. Naturally the civilian casualties were high.
“Wonder how many people are left to actually need wards…” Aegis spoke aloud to himself.
As if to answer his inquiry, a small boy, no more than 10, walked up to his table. He was dirty from farm work and whatever else the villagers did to earn a living and to top it off, it looked like he was partially covered in ash - no doubt from the wizard battle earlier.
The boy plopped down a few silver coins.
“Can I buy a ward against fire?”
Aegis looked at the meager offering.
“Sorry, kid. Wards aren’t cheap, the lowest I can go is 1 gold coin.”
Aegis didn’t like to be callous, but he was running a business after all.
“I-I got nothing but this…” the boy said dejectedly.
Aegis sighed and rummaged through a box behind him. He pulled out a bunch of defective items. They weren’t entirely useless, but they were a far cry from being proper wards.
“I can sell you one of these pieces of junk, but frankly I wouldn’t advise it. Better off saving your silver for food or shelter.”
“I-I can’t do it…”
“Do what, kid?”
“I can’t go back out to the fields. Every time I try, I see it again - the fire and lightning. I-I need something to protect myself with! Please! Is there no way?! I’ll work the debt off for you or do some dirty work for ya, but please! I can’t live like this no more!”
Aegis frowned. The biggest downside of his job, or rather, the biggest downside to following Aster around - plenty of desperate people willing to do anything, but unable to afford the wards. He felt for the kid - he really did - but there wasn’t much else he could do.
He looked at the poor kid, his hysterical eyes pleading with him. Aegis sighed and took some of the defective products and re-examined them. There was bound to be at least one that could do what the kid was asking for at his price, but he would have to fix it up a little on the fly.
“Look, I get it. I’ll look among the junkers for a good one for ya. But are you sure about this? That looks like your family’s entire life savings.”
The boy looked down - a dark expression on his face.
“My family isn’t alive anymore to care.”
Aegis opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it, deciding instead to focus on finding a good ward among the junkers. He eventually found a botched self defense ward that could be salvaged if he scrapped about three other duds for their magic circuits.
“Found one for ya. It’s not the best, but it will do once I touch it up.”
Aegis used two failed fire protection wards and another self defense ward to fill in the magic circuits on ward he had selected. The boy stared wide eyed as Aegis magically transferred the circuits from one ward to another. In the end, Aegis had managed to make a serviceable ward from the junker.
“There ya go, that’ll protect you from fire and stray attacks so long as you don’t take too many hits and get to cover fast. Think you can do that?”
The boy nodded.
“Good, I’ll take three of those five silver coins you showed me for it.”
The boy eagerly gave Aegis the three coins and snatched the ward from the table.
“Deal! Thank you kind sir! Thank you!”
“No problem kid.”
The boy ran off with a look of utter relief on his face. Aegis had to remind himself to aim for as much profit as was reasonable. But he just couldn’t bring himself to squeeze a kid dry like that.
He had seen it too many of them die. And he was sure to see more of them die in the future.
“Hey! You sell’n wards?” A well dressed man asked as he strolled up with a cane.
“That I do, good sir!”
Finally, some deep pockets…
Another war torn village, another market place ripe with potential customers. Aegis had set up shop in the middle of the town square while his travel companions, Aster and Mistle, did their thing with the rescue efforts and restoration of the nearby landscape.
From the looks of it, while the village itself didn’t get hit too bad, the houses and farmland in the surrounding area weren’t so lucky. Plenty had been out in the fields when a nearby wizard battle had broken out. Naturally the civilian casualties were high.
“Wonder how many people are left to actually need wards…” Aegis spoke aloud to himself.
As if to answer his inquiry, a small boy, no more than 10, walked up to his table. He was dirty from farm work and whatever else the villagers did to earn a living and to top it off, it looked like he was partially covered in ash - no doubt from the wizard battle earlier.
The boy plopped down a few silver coins.
“Can I buy a ward against fire?”
Aegis looked at the meager offering.
“Sorry, kid. Wards aren’t cheap, the lowest I can go is 1 gold coin.”
Aegis didn’t like to be callous, but he was running a business after all.
“I-I got nothing but this…” the boy said dejectedly.
Aegis sighed and rummaged through a box behind him. He pulled out a bunch of defective items. They weren’t entirely useless, but they were a far cry from being proper wards.
“I can sell you one of these pieces of junk, but frankly I wouldn’t advise it. Better off saving your silver for food or shelter.”
“I-I can’t do it…”
“Do what, kid?”
“I can’t go back out to the fields. Every time I try, I see it again - the fire and lightning. I-I need something to protect myself with! Please! Is there no way?! I’ll work the debt off for you or do some dirty work for ya, but please! I can’t live like this no more!”
Aegis frowned. The biggest downside of his job, or rather, the biggest downside to following Aster around - plenty of desperate people willing to do anything, but unable to afford the wards. He felt for the kid - he really did - but there wasn’t much else he could do.
He looked at the poor kid, his hysterical eyes pleading with him. Aegis sighed and took some of the defective products and re-examined them. There was bound to be at least one that could do what the kid was asking for at his price, but he would have to fix it up a little on the fly.
“Look, I get it. I’ll look among the junkers for a good one for ya. But are you sure about this? That looks like your family’s entire life savings.”
The boy looked down - a dark expression on his face.
“My family isn’t alive anymore to care.”
Aegis opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it, deciding instead to focus on finding a good ward among the junkers. He eventually found a botched self defense ward that could be salvaged if he scrapped about three other duds for their magic circuits.
“Found one for ya. It’s not the best, but it will do once I touch it up.”
Aegis used two failed fire protection wards and another self defense ward to fill in the magic circuits on ward he had selected. The boy stared wide eyed as Aegis magically transferred the circuits from one ward to another. In the end, Aegis had managed to make a serviceable ward from the junker.
“There ya go, that’ll protect you from fire and stray attacks so long as you don’t take too many hits and get to cover fast. Think you can do that?”
The boy nodded.
“Good, I’ll take three of those five silver coins you showed me for it.”
The boy eagerly gave Aegis the three coins and snatched the ward from the table.
“Deal! Thank you kind sir! Thank you!”
“No problem kid.”
The boy ran off with a look of utter relief on his face. Aegis had to remind himself to aim for as much profit as was reasonable. But he just couldn’t bring himself to squeeze a kid dry like that.
He had seen it too many of them die. And he was sure to see more of them die in the future.
“Hey! You sell’n wards?” A well dressed man asked as he strolled up with a cane.
“That I do, good sir!”
Finally, some deep pockets…