Transactions and Substitutions

Draknar knows what matters in a transaction: winning.

Unfortunately, he has never been so good at haggling. It's the kind of stuff people do when they have no power, and Draknar has been used to having power. And when he didn't have power, he worked to seize it, not to haggle with those more powerful than him.

Scheming? Sure, he's an expert. Ambushing the opponent and taking their stuff by force? Certainly, it was a common practice. Hanging them by their own intestines afterwards? Naturally, why wouldn't you?

Violence is not yet an option in Easthaven. Scheming it is.

The cauldron turned out to be less hopeful than Draknar had hoped. It cannot make infinite food. Only three large portions every day. That is still valuable, but not the shortcut to world domination that Draknar had envisaged.

So be it. It is still worth good money.

The negotiations with Torga went perhaps slightly less well than anticipated. Yet it is surprising that even she did not seem to be in a mind to double-cross Draknar. Everyone here is so naive and honest. Whilst using his hard-earned magical powers to probe her mind for the possibility of her betrayal, Draknar found a way to betray her instead. A flash, an image, a gruff-looking man. She was offering 1300 gold, a substantial sum, but still leaving much profit on the table. After some investigation, the person she thought of turned out to be the Speaker of Ten Towns, called Danath Waylen.

At the last minute, Draknar used that information to double-cross Torga and sell the cauldron directly to the Speaker for a tidy 2,000 gold, minus a 100 gold breakage fee for Torga. She may well be upset anyway, and could be dangerous. Draknar opted to send the Kobold over to tell the news. If he doesn't make it back, a replacement can surely be hired now that Draknar is wealthy.

As an additional bonus, the Speaker vowed to declare Draknar and his band the saviours of Easthaven. This should help with recruitment.

Of course, if Torga does turn violent and eliminates the Kobold, first, she will need to be dealt with. No doubt this new, public friendship with the town of Easthaven will be a handy tool to have her dealt with. Who would side with a mean-looking, murderous merchant over the Saviours of Easthaven?

This status as Saviours of Easthaven could be useful. Perhaps it will be smarter to raze another town first, and leave this one for later. Meanwhile, Draknar will have to satisfy himself with imagining the slaughter, rather than executing it.

As he awaits the Kobold, Draknar has a sudden thought. Could the mysterious bodyguard be peeled away from Torga's retinue and recruited? Perhaps he might want to work for Draknar instead. The Fairy seems to have taken a liking to him. He could be a valuable addition to the small team.

This may be a conversation worth having, if it is possible to engineer it without too much personal risk - which may be difficult now that Torga is likely no longer friendly.