faderift | (Open) Catchall for the January

WHO:Barnabas ‘Snake Oil’ Vilm
WHAT: Barnabas wheeling and dealing at his stall
WHEN:Now
WHERE: By the Inquisition HQ, at a market stall

I. At the Shop - Barnabas has a small storefront in the marketplace nearest the Gallows, where he buys and sells rifter artifacts. He also offers money changing. The exterior of the shop has small windows that have a few of the more mundane artifacts, with some large garish signs above the windows. They say "Barnabas Vilm - Seller of Fine Rifter Crafts". There's another logo that says 'We change your money! From wherever you come from!"

The inside of the shop is lit as well as it can be, with a string of lamps overhead, filling the room with light and a fog of smoke. The shelves line the walls, leaving a tasteful rug in the center of the room, with a counter against the back wall, where a door leading to a back room can be seen. On the shelves is a dazzling array of, for lack of a better term, things. A whip, a glowing green rock and a odd metal spring to name a few.

All of the items have a price and a huge sign over the counter says "We buy what you sell! All sales final, no refunds, Buyer Beware."

Engraved tastefully and subtly on the counter is a small Carta sigil.

II. After-Hours - Barnabas normally spends his evenings relaxing at a The Hanged Man, keeping his ear open to any new arrivals or new rifters. If he notices anyone talking of finding any odd artifacts will have him descend, offering a free drink and a very good price for it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's a little nervous to start casting around the glowing things, but that doesn't stop him from picking up the bottle and turning it over slowly.

"The Rifters can't tell you what any of this is? There are no clues?" Despite himself, he carefully reaches out with Creation to see if the substance inside is living at all.

"Unfortunately, all of this is stuff that I've found. And no rifters have come in so far to explain anything. I mean, I'm still starting out here, so the flow of customers is a bit lower than I'd like. I mean, some stuff I can make educated guesses, but most everything else, no idea."

Barnabas gestures to a green metal egg resting on a stack of papers. "Take this thing. No idea what it does, but it is oddly heavy. Good for paperweight, but for all I know it may open up and play a tune if you tap it just right."

As for the glowing red bottle, the reading on it is odd. Like as if you tried to get a reading on a vat of yeast, or perhaps a plant. Alive, perhaps, if you stretch the definition of life.

Anders looks at the heavy egg and frowns. With his luck, tapping it would hatch a massive metal dragon. He'll pass. And the bottle... it's not blood like he'd thought a slight possibility, but there's a response to the Creation magic anyway. There's a lot to take in.

"I'd prefer to not risk setting a metal dragon loose on Kirkwall. Maybe there's no such thing, but the chance that there is means I'm not going to touch it." The Rifters have opened his mind to a whole lot of possibilities, some of them not comfortable to think on. Spirit magic doesn't help him any more with the bottle and he sets it down carefully.

"I've no idea what that is, but I'd be careful about letting people handle it. Other than the egg, is there anything you specifically want me casting on?"

Barnabas pauses, the friendly smile on his face falling a bit. "Yes...There is. This...thing."

Barnabas comes form behind the counter and walks over to the locked case. "Everything else I have here? No big problem. They don't get twitchy, they all stay quiet. This...Didn't."

He looks in the case at the clay tablet, maybe five my six inches, strange hieroglyphics drawn into it, and looking over the words, a strange pulpy figure, tentacled head and small wings on the back. "This thing...was not quiet and calm. May have just been some kinda side effect of the rift, but well...better safe, you know what I mean?"

Barnabas unlocks the case and opens the door. "Take a look..."

"Not quiet and calm?" he echoes, looking a little taken aback. It's just a tablet, by the look of it, but anything can be enchanted. At first Anders just peers at it. If there's something going on with it he isn't sure he wants his hands on it, so after a few moments he sends a careful thread of spirit magic in, just to see if he can get a sense of it.

What he gets is... fuzzy. He's not certain of what he's getting off of it, and he shakes his head. "I have no idea right now. Maybe after it's been in Thedas for a time it will... either settle down more, or become more energetic, and then I'll know."

"Well, fair enough. I'll keep an eye on it, if it starts doing anything weird I'll let you know."

Barnabas relocks the case and heads back over to the counter. "Now that business is out of the way, Anything I've got here caught your eye?"

He contemplates the collection before shaking his head with a small smile.

"I'm curious about many of the things, I'll not deny it, but I don't have the money to spend on things I'm curious about. Between feeding two pets and running a Clinic in Darktown I'm... well. Not exactly the type of person a shopkeeper might want around, I fear. But I'm certainly going to be dropping by regularly. Both to offer help figuring things out, and to see if there's anything I'd find practical, if you don't mind."

Even if he wanted trinkets, he's never lived a life that had room for them and that's not likely to change any time soon. That's all right with him, though.

(Open) Catchall for the January

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