Diaries of an Ooze Witch (Entry 3.3) (Patreon)

3.3

I decided that after ample rest and recovery, I would start anew and comb the markets for buyers once more. Armed with the information Jeru provided me, I decided to try my hand at speaking with the Boheme Trading Company and get a better understanding of one of my rivals. It wasn’t too hard to find one of their vendors hocking their brand of inferior iron ore to the masses. A weasel-like man with a dark pencil mustache and a propensity for clasping his hands together, I had him pegged as one of their less skilled merchants. It appeared that he was talking to a plain if not slightly toned woman. Her dirty blonde hair was covered with a handkerchief that she tied atop her head as a forest green tunic and black apron concealed her muscular body underneath. She appeared youthful if not a bit headstrong in contrast to the merchant’s more sniveling demeanor. From a distance, the two appeared to have a bit of a quarrel about something that I was not able to catch. Perchance this was a dispute over the quality of their ore? I felt it appropriate to get closer in the hopes that I could eavesdrop some small morsel of knowledge from their interaction.

Upon walking over, the woman was in the process of breaking off the conversation, much to the merchant’s chagrin. She said something about their arrangement not being met and that she would need to speak with Diacyst at earliest convenience. As she left, I only narrowly avoided her swagger as our eyes briefly met. There was a ferocity in her gaze, not unlike a feral beast would possess before it tore a man asunder.  I unconsciously clenched my hands, as if to anticipate an attack from her. Never had I encountered such naked hostility in anyone, let alone a woman, in all my years. Had this been what some would describe to be a loose cannon?

As quickly as she had come into my path, the woman left just as expediently. I felt myself release a breath the moment she left my sight, so terrifying her aura had been that it caused me to quake in her presence. Trying my best to get past our brief encounter, I turned my attention to the merchant, a much more manageable individual for a man of my talents. Our conversations were on the shorter side but still informative enough for me to start getting an idea of what I was dealing with in the city. The merchant, a man by the name of Ketzgel, had been with the Boheme Trading Company for several years. When I broached the subject of the iron trade in the city, the merchant’s tone seemed to grow more accommodating as he attempted to get me interested in purchasing his stock of iron. I brushed him off, saying that I was only interested in surveying the market and nothing more. For a moment, he seemed to sour on me until I noticed his eyes catch onto my family crest, pausing just long enough to give me suspicion that he had seen it before somewhere. Wasting little time, I decided to press him on whether he had seen someone else with that same crest. The slight tension in his expression told more than his words ever could. My countenance grew harsher as I struck an accusatory tone with Ketzgel, who seemed all too eager to abandon his post if it meant not answering my questions. Cutting off his escape, I browbeat him relentlessly about my Brother in an attempt to extract whatever he knew. Alas, before I could pull a confession from him, a member of the city guard stepped between us and asserted his authority in the situation. Not one to wait, Ketzgel departed the scene, vanishing into the crowd and leaving his stall behind with whatever goods were left in the open. My attempts to track his movements were dashed by the guard, who seemed more interested in admonishing me for my brutish behavior to a merchant of the city. With my lead gone, I decided to pay the guard lip service and apologize for the trouble that I had been responsible for.

With half of my day wasted, I tried to salvage what I could of it and attempted to make inroads with some of the local blacksmiths, only to find that most if not all had existing contracts with the Boheme Trading Company and were exclusively buying from them. I spent the rest of the day like this and wound up empty handed. Frustrated, I retired to “The Pale Lady” in an attempt to lick my wounds. Without a steady stream of income, I fear that I may be running out of funds for this trip. I cannot afford to lose any more time in the matter, but the lack of potential leads does prove to be a more trying endeavor.