You never would have guessed how many things a tavern needs to operate on a day-to-day basis. It feels like you’re always at the market. In your previous life, you would have just thrown your coin at the nearest merchant to get what you needed.
But now that you’re tied down to one place, it’s not as easy to get everything. Buying something isn’t as straightforward as a simple transaction.
Still, calling this place home has its advantages. A trader saves something special for you, or throws in a little something extra as thanks for your patronage, or for that favor you did them last time. It’s nice.
Session 3: Market Day
Anyone can play. Players will either take the writing role of a SHOPPER or a MERCHANT in a given scene. Start by declaring your main character as a SHOPPER and then create a potential MERCHANT side character name for others to choose from. Along side this information write an introductory paragraph to answer these questions: (SHOPPER) What do you need for the tavern or for yourself? Is it difficult to find here, and if so, why? (MERCHANTS) What sign, item of clothing, or other visual cue do you use to attract buyers?
Out of character
Shoppers are your characters, but the Merchants are a chance to write as a new side character. Since this is not being done live, once Shopper and Merchant personas are declared we will have collaboration on scenes for "The Exchange" portion of the game. This might be done on the Discord as a live chat roleplay thread, you might collaborate on a document, whatever works as long as the result can be posted here later. For right now focus on writing your personas and more on pairing off will be explained later.
Killian D'Augustine - Needs a proper ledger book to track accounts and expenses (hard to find only because Killian isn't satisfied with the rough parchment most use here), a chair that will feel as good as a mossy cave stone for when he wants to read (harder to find because he can survive explosions but nobody survives long in a chair that doesn't agree with them), stone to build a properly luxurious bathing tub in the bath house (not difficult, just very specialized for a town that is out on the edge of the Empire).
Aster Vale - A large rack of objects, all made from tooled copper. Each object is hanging from a chain, allowing customers to handle and examine the samples without worry of loss. There is another rack with hanging strips of metal, each polished and ready for examination of the quality of purity and handling within the crucible.
Aster Vale - A large rack of objects, all made from tooled copper. Each object is hanging from a chain, allowing customers to handle and examine the samples without worry of loss. There is another rack with hanging strips of metal, each polished and ready for examination of the quality of purity and handling within the crucible.
Gavril Blackburne - Needs a good, dependable cutlery set, preferably made of a metamaterial that maintains edge and cleanliness indefinitely or near-indefinitely (mithral would be ideal). Also needs an extra tall bed for sleeping in his true form when he so chooses (it gets uncomfortable being in his human skin for too long--hard to find because most humanoids aren't nearly ten feet tall). Wants to find cookbooks from different cultures so that he can learn new recipes and spice combinations to better cook for the group and the tavern (potentially difficult due to limited printings and circulation).
Aeran Aerandir - A merchant whose spectacles enlarge his eyes to an alarming extent. Has various overflowing coffers of certain goods, as well as modified racks that hold larger goods. A noted eccentricity to their speech, and a somewhat absentminded demeanor. Tendency to alliterate.
The characters are set, time for Phase 2 of the prompt
It's market day! Since we have just the two writers I will have Killian stop by Aeran's shop, and he will have Gavril stop at Aster's shop. The Shopkeeper writer is the one who gets to decide what narrative requirements need to be met for the Tavern character to get an item they want. The Tavern character gets to decide what it is that they find at the Shopkeeper that meets their needs (afterall, if the goal cannot be met, what's the point in writing out the scene?). I am going to be using Google Docs for my collaboration platform, since this allows two people to write on the same item in real time. Kaz, you let me know what your preferred method might be (Discord chat, a dedicated board thread here on WorldAnvil, voice chat session, whatever works best for you).
Out of character
I will post up my Doc link on this thread once it is prepared. This will not be a live chat analog, rather it will be laid out as a traditional narrative piece where Kaz and I will be able to edit and merge our writing into a coherent whole. Let me know if you have any questions about this process, even if you are not participating in writing!