After his successful venture with his first quest, he quickly picked up another. This one was a bit darker in its task, however, as he headed toward a man named Gaud Teller.

The merchant quarter was as lively as he had expected. Many of the stalls were fixed, but some belonged to traveling merchants. Precisely the type of people he was looking for. His eyes scanned the area until he heard a deep baritone voice, “Hey, Hey, you there. Over here skinny,” a boisterous guffaw followed the words and with it was a burly man with a bushy beard.

The man rushed over and slammed a big hand across Kazimir’s back almost causing him to choke, “Welcome, welcome. Glad you could make it. I can spot you guild types a mile away.” The man’s temperament showed he either didn’t realize the weight of his heavy hand or didn’t care.

Kazimir gave a few coughs and mottled a reply, “Technically I am a page of the rune knights.”
Gaud gave an uncaring shrug, “Whatever you are, I’m glad yer here for me. So, let’s get down to business.

Kazimir looked at the man’s wares and oddities in his shop, “So what all do you sell? Seems like you have a great variety of things.” He stepped around Gaud to get a better look at the common and rare items that adorned his traveling shop. Things that Kazmir had never set eyes on before.

Gaud placed his hands on his hips with a warm smile, “Well you know the life of a traveling merchant takes you a great deal of places to acquire this and that I suppose. He spoke as a man lightly boasting about his collection.

Kazimir kept looking as if he was lost in thought admiring the items and asking where some of the more curious items were gathered from. After a couple of minutes, Gaud replied, “I tell you what. You get this for me and I’ll tell you all you want as well.”

Kazimir snapped out of his trance apologetically, “Forgive me, sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me. Please tell me what you need of me?"

It was now that gaud told him about his plight and the shifty seller to meet at night. He pulled out a hand-drawn map of the area with a marker on it to symbolize where the meeting place was supposed to be. Now, gently tucked in his pack, Kazimir said, “Alright then. I’ll be off to take care of the deal. Sit tight, and I will return with your items.”

At that, Kazimir was off in search of the seller in the dead of night. The streets were still busy with traders and travelers traversing the walkways. He wandered through the streets and different alleys in search of the one matching the crude drawing on the map.

Climbing to the top of a building he tried to give himself more of a vantage point to access where it was. Man, he isn’t making finding this guy very easy. This map is rough, He thought to himself while walking a thin ledge over the streets and leaping the small gap to the next building.

It wasn’t much longer until he noticed some of the finer details in an alley that matched the description from the map. Kazimir climbed down the side of a building and turned into the alley. To his surprise, a man was already standing there. Hidden behind a cloak the figure stood almost motionless waiting.

Kazimir began to step toward the figure…

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There was a strange feeling lurking in the corners of Kazimir’s mind. A quick shuffling of boats resonated behind him. Looking back, he glimpsed the tail end of a dark tunic duck behind a building. He remained calm and returned to the matter at hand.

Approaching slowly, he had come within 10 feet of the cloaked figure before he was stopped. The man rose a hand up, halting Kazimir’s progression. “Who are you?” The man asked quizzically and with urgency. Despite wearing a hood, it was easy to see that he looked back and forth, searching for something.

“I’m here on behalf of the merchant. I have the payment with me,” Kazimir said, pulling out the pouch.

Without a word, the cloaked figure hurried towards him. Kazimir readied his hand to cast a spell in case things went south. Once the man was within reach, he pulled out a small bag and extended toward Kazimir. “Hurry, before they get here.” The man pulled out the contents to reveal a large tooth and shoved it back in.

“Before, who gets here?” Kazimir asked as he let the man take the payment and replaced it with the bag.

The man simply turned to flee, “Not my worries any more lad.” He disappeared into the shadows with those final words on his way out.

Looking back, he saw the same figures as before this time closer and not afraid to show their appearance.

“Hand over the item…now!” One of the new cloaked figures yelled out. Whatever situation the seller came from it was not a safe one. Now Kazimir was in the middle of whatever strife there was.

“Sorry to say, but that is something I cannot do,” as he placed the bag into his pack still facing the two new arrivals. The men exchanged looks and started to run forward. The alley was big enough for them to run side by side but was littered with trash.

With a sigh, Kazimir made a simple gesture. A weak breeze ruffled his hair as he swung his right arm upward. A gust of wind swirled through the little pieces of trash, lifting it into the two would-be assailants faces. It provided enough of a distraction for Kazimir to sneak out into another alley and scale a building.

He was only half-way up the building when the sound of someone singing caught his ear. He stopped midway up the ladder and tried to decipher where it was coming from. Only the sound of the men dashing around the corner snapped him back into focus. “Oops, No time for that now.”
He arrived at the top of the building and leapt to the others, making his way back toward the merchant square.

Soon he could see Gaud in the distance, trying to sell some last-minute items to a passing traveler. Kazimir approached and on the way, he purchased two bowls of food to eat. “I have your tooth, mind telling me about it and some of the other things in your shop?”

Gaud turned with a laugh at the curiosity shown by the page. “Thanks for though help. I guess I can talk with you a bit. Here’s your payment and what is in those bowls?”

“It’s cereal. That merchant over there is the only one that sells it this late at night. Let’s eat!”And with that, the two of them sat for the rest of the evening eating and chatting about the adventures of a traveling merchant and the history of some of his rarer items.

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