Chapter 64

Aww. I Shouldn’t Have Said Anything.

Thrush

“Roll until seven or point,” Boggo said.

I kept rolling. 3. 5. 1. My point was a 6 so I kept rolling. Boggo was up on his little feet and he squirmed in excitement. He wrung his squirrely hands in glee. He bounced from foot to foot and his poofy tail shook.

The pot we were playing for had 6 dreambons, 2 gems, and two bundles of hide. Though I didn’t much care for the gems or hide, I didn’t mind diversifying my inventory. That way I would always have something interesting to sell or trade.

2. 4.

“Come on,” Boggo said through his teeth. “Come on, come on. The moment I see that seven, it’s all mine!”

1. 7.

Boggo trembled with happiness. He erupted in a big celebration. He shouted, clapped, and shook his butt. Then he gathered his newly acquired items and pushed them into the corner of the cellar by the tunnel he frequented.

“You’re happy,” I said.

“Damn straight I’m happy. I’ve got enough dreambons to eat and to use for shooting dice with the other Besties.”

“Can we trade now?”

“Ok, we’ll play your game now. As long as I end up getting something. Go ahead and set up your tent. Don’t forget to give me some coin to buy things with this time.”

I gave him 100 silver. I set my backpack on the floor and we watched it set itself up, which drew from my mana. I poured each of us some of Hawkin’s mana stout and we crashed mugs before downing all in one go.

After belching, we got right down to business.

“Ahem,” Boggo said. “Well howdy there. Have anything interesting to sell? I’ve run into a bit of coin, you see.”

“Take a look around.”

Boggo wiggled himself into his nest of blue fur and “hmm’d” for sometime, deciding what he wanted to buy. I was able to organize things that I didn’t want to sell, and those had a lock beneath them which Boggo couldn’t see. The rest was fair game.

“I’m interested in the oysters,” Boggo said, “but a silver piece is way too pricey.”

[You have entered negotiations.]

[Merchant options:]

[Bribe.]

[Pitch.]

[Intimidate.]

[Bluff.]

[Flirt.]

[Coax.]

[Reason.]

“Alright, Boggo,” I said. “I’m going to try intimidation first. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready! I’m ready!”

“You’re going to buy the oysters for a silver per piece,” I growled. “Do you know why you’re going to do that?”

Boggo held a hand over his snout, holding in laughter. His eyes were wide and he wiggled in his seat. A chortle escaped through his nose.

“Why?” Boggo said.

“Because if you don’t, it’s going to cost you a lot more than a silver per piece when I’m done with you.”

Boggo burst into laughter. The kind of laughter that squeezed your eyes and you couldn’t breath or make a sound, your body was just frozen in breathless laughing.

I cocked my head and observed him until he finally gathered enough of himself that he could wipe his tears and speak.

“Ok, you win,” he said. “I’ll take it.”

I wasn’t quite yet finished with using the Merchant’s Intimidation, so I kept going. I threatened to eat him. I insinuated eating his friends and family, and I threatened to haunt him and his kind for as long as they live. I would dig for all I was worth until I broke every tunnel and burrow, and filled my belly with all the Blue Besties in the world.

By the end of it, Boggo was a small little thing with trembling eyes and ears that lay flat. He gulped and handed over 42 silver in exchange for 42 oysters.

After I piled the oysters beside him, we looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. Then we both burst into laughter until our sides hurt.

We chuckled back and forth for some time before moving on with more practice. Boggo sold the oysters back to me for the same price, but I cracked one open for him to enjoy. I shared some more mana beer between us and we continued on.

I practiced bribing, bluffing, reasoning, pitching, coaxing, until coming full circle back to intimidation. Once again, we lost ourselves to laughter.

Boggo was a bit tipsy by then, and we played another game of dice. I put dreambons into the pot, and Boggo put more gems than usual. We chatted in the meanwhile.

“Alright, here we go,” Boggo said. “The point is three for me.” He rolled. “`I have to say, Thrush, that there’s been a lot more commotion above ground. Especially down by the sea. Ever since spring began.”

“Goblins,” I said.

“And we realize that, so a lot of Blue Besties have had to move up north a bit. They made the dig yesterday. Someone usually has to peek above ground every once in a while for safety reasons, whether it be looking out for predators, or guiding the group around certain obstacles, or whatever else—we have a whole system for that. Anyways, one of the Besties surveyed above ground. They were at a high point with a view of the sea. They saw more ships coming in.”

“Goblin ships,” I said.

“No, no. From what I heard, these didn’t sound like goblin ships. They were much larger. Darker. Huge sails.”

“Not goblin ships?”

“Not from what I gathered.”

“You said the ships were dark.”

Boggo relayed to the best of his memory what he’d heard through other Besties. The ships clearly sailing for the goblin fleet were arranged with much more precision than the goblins. They were faster and they pierced along the surface of the sea. The ships were the color of charcoal with sheens of deep brown. The sails were pale and the rudders were ten times larger than those on goblin ships. As soon as Boggo elaborated on what he’d heard about the rudders, it was safe to assume that they were Orc ships.

“Orcs,” I said.

“How do you know?”

“Some species of large fish look the same as Orc ships when you’re in the water looking up. I bit into an Orc ship once, thinking I had caught something tasty.”

“You always have crazy stories to share,” Boggo said. “How come you have so many stories?”

“I’ve been here a long time.”

“You’re not lying to me about the stories are you? They’re all true?”

“I’m not interested in lying.”

“Alrighty. I trust you.”

Boggo won the pot, and we started another one. He rolled once more to either establish a point, or lose the pot.

“You’re sure they’re headed toward the goblin fleet?” I said.

“Take my word for it. Us Besties are pretty good at relying on the word of others, so information stays rather accurate as it goes around. Or don’t take my word for it. Whatever. Take a look yourself. They were spotted yesterday, so they’ve gotta be much closer now.”

“Last game,” I said. “Then I’ve got to fetch Hawkin and show him.”

“Awww,” Boggo said and then tsked. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”