The shop known as "Pochi" was ill-at-ease. New customers were not coming in, and even worse, Miro, the Master, had turned out potential customers and *locked the door*. Not that it mattered, since they seemingly weren't going to buy anything. And making sure that something approximating her desire could be found in every box or basket that girl--Kimihiko, was it?--looked in was taking up a lot of valuable energy. But unless some new customers showed up fast, Pochi was going to have trouble sustaining the images already created. First, the bright new colors would begin to fade. Then the number of items would drop off. They only had a little time to take advantage of what energy had been gathered. And the need for power was greater than the Master knew. **************************************************** ONE OF THOSE SHOPS An Improfanfic Production Started by Farsan de Arnibia Written by: Lirazel Branch B - Chapter 5: Supply and Demand **************************************************** /I think they're gone, Master./ Miro moved over to the window, and looked up and down the street. "Hmm, yes, so it appears. /You could open again.../ "Oh, yes... right. Sorry." Miro propped the door open in what he hoped was a friendly way, and made sure the little sign in the window said "Open" as well. He strolled back to the counter, climbed up on the stool next to the cash register, and leaned his head on his hands. "So, tell me... you said I need to sell at what the customer thinks is a fair price. How do I know what that is?" /It's a little hard to judge. Most of the time, a lower price is better, because we're likely to make more sales. But sometimes, if the price is too low, people get suspicious. The price doesn't seem "fair" to them, and even if they take the merchandise, we probably won't get much energy off the transaction. A bargain that someone thinks is a "steal" can be as bad as overpricing./ "But how do...? /Someone's coming./ Miro hurried to the door with what he hoped was a welcoming smile. His smile became a little fixed-looking as a huge black limousine, complete with smoked windows and several antennae, pulled up. A chauffeur got out and came around to open the passenger door. The small, elderly gentleman who emerged was very quietly dressed indeed. Only the gold handle and tip of his cane were openly opulent, though a close observer would have noted that his suit, though old-fashioned in cut, was of very high quality silk/wool cloth, and his shoes, Italian leather. Miro was not such an observer. As he bowed politely at the door, his only thought was, "I'll bet this guy never even heard of D&D. Damn." And at first, Miro's pessimism seemed correct. The man looked carefully around the shop for a few moments, then his shoulders sagged slightly, and a look of disappointment, almost of sadness, came over his face. /Find out what he's looking for, Master!/ "Err..." Miro felt incredibly stupid. He wracked his brain, trying to remember how shopkeepers and attendants had approached him in the past about his intentions. "Can I help...?" The man looked at him oddly. "I was told there was a shop on this street that had Chinese curios." "Ummm..." /Show him the box under the counter./ "What box?" Miro realized that the man was staring at him intently. "Perhaps my information was wrong. The items here all seem to be related to children's games and storybooks." The man began to move towards the door. "Hey, wait!" The man turned towards him again, and his usual rant about how role-playing was not for children (to be followed by his other usual rant about Tolkien's virtues as a story- teller) died on Miro's lips. The man's eyes gleamed at him. He wasn't sure if the gleam was sinister or friendly, but it certainly was *interested*. "I think I might have something to interest you." Miro stepped behind the counter, and ducked down to look beneath it. Sure enough, in a space that would normally be filled with smaller inventory items, there was just one box, covered in the sort of creamy paper that looks aged; or, maybe it really was aged. He took it out, put it on the counter, and, without another word, opened it. With his eyes shut. To do him justice, Miro had had a long, strange day. He'd seen a friend buy a spell-book from a vending machine that turned him into a temporary oni; he'd redecorated by thought alone; he'd seen lembas, wrapped, apparently, in mallorn leaves, appear and disappear. It's not that he was frightened, exactly. He just knew enough now to expect surprise. He heard his customer's awed intake of breath. He didn't know much about selling, but certainly the man had just seen something he wanted very, very much. Carefully, Miro opened his eyes. Lying in the box, on a pad of dark green silk, lay a small jade statuette of the Buddha, about three inches high. The jade was a pale, pale purple, almost white, and against the green cloth the small figure seemed to glow and shimmer. "The Jade Buddha..." the customer breathed. His hand reached out to caress it. Without thinking, Miro grabbed the other's wrist, stopping the movement. Then he released his grip, backing away from the counter, blushing with embarrassment. "Gomen nasai! I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me. Please, examine it all you want to. I'm sure I can trust..." "No no, please don't distress yourself, it is I who must apologize. You are quite right. To touch this without appropriate preparation would be-- unwise." Miro stared at the man, who still appeared to be wholly absorbed by what lay within the open box. Without looking up, the man said, "How much?" Miro's mind raced frantically. What had Pochi just said? " A bargain that someone thinks is a 'steal' can be as bad as overpricing." And this was clearly a special item of some kind... Special item. Unusual, powerful, and rare. Hmph, thought Miro, children's game indeed! He fished some dice out of his pocket. Two six-siders and a 20- sider. "Just a moment, please, sir." First, to see just how rare this thing was. Miro rolled the 20-sider, and was unsurprised to see it come up "1". A natural one. Then, that meant he should... The man looked up as Miro rapidly rolled the two six-siders, noting down the answers for each roll on a bit of scrap paper. Six rolls of two dice. Some addition, some multiplication... "Interesting method of pricing you seem to be using here." Miro started. "Errr... yes, isn't it? But since we sell some, ah, unusual items, it seems one of the only fair ways to balance the value of the object to the user with our business needs. Such items are not easy to come by. On the other hand, we don't want our customers to feel as if they've been taken advantage of in some way. Normally, I'd have asked you to roll the dice yourself, but you seemed a bit pre-occupied, so..." "How does it work?" "Miro spoke confidently, despite the fact that he had just made this system up. "Well, first the customer rolls this die, to determine the value of the item to him or her." He held up the 20-sider. "It won't surprise you to learn that the roll was what we call a 'natural 1', meaning it has a very high value to you. But, perhaps you'd like to try it yourself?" "No. This sounds as though it might be rather accurate for items of this nature." The man smiled grimly. "Let's say I've been asked to perform more difficult tasks to obtain things I value highly." Miro grinned uneasily and went on. "So, the highest number of six-sider dice I can roll for price is 12. Two dice, six rolls. I add all the numbers up, and multiply by 1000." "And I suppose it gave you six 12s?" The man's grin seemed to be more cynical. "Actually, no. It gave me 56,000 yen." The man's eyes widened slightly. "That is about the price for which Master Wu first sold... but I'm sure you know that." Miro thought it best to remain silent. "Very well. That seems quite fair. Here." He opened his wallet, selected some bills, and pushed them across the counter at Miro, then he placed the cover back on the box and picked it up with both hands. Miro picked up the money, pressed a few keys, and placed the bills in the register's cash drawer. He could almost feel Pochi sigh with satisfaction. Then, he hurried around the counter to open the shop door wide. Just before he crossed the threshold, the old man said, "A word of advice, young man." "Yes sir?" "Be prepared to adjust your pricing formula in the future. You may have more visitors like myself. Most of them expect to pay a high price." "I will remember." The black limousine pulled away. Miro went back into the shop, closed the door, and leaned against it. He felt dizzy, as if he had been holding his breath for a long, long time. /Well done, Master!/ "Yes, wasn't it? See, that's why I get mad when people assume that role-playing can't teach real-- /Master, excuse me, but could you imagine some protection for this shop?/ "Pro-- protection?" /Yes. Quickly, if you don't mind./ "You mean like this?" Miro closed his eyes, thinking of early Sunday strolls through his neighborhood, the shops with shutters or metal gates over windows and doors. When he opened his eyes, a fine set of mesh screens covered the windows, and the door had been reinforced. A button next to the register, labeled "Door" indicated that he would now have to admit customers by buzzing them through the lock. "Now, what's all this about?" /Well... we needed some merchandise for that last customer, yes? So I -- I guess you could say I --/ "You stole it?" /No! We Shops aren't allowed to sell stolen things!/ "Then where did it come from? You didn't just make it up?" /No... You might say, I copied it./ "It's a FAKE?" Miro didn't like this. Whoever he was, the man who had just left the shop didn't look like the sort of person who would put up with that sort of trickery. /No, it's the real Jade Buddha of Master Wu. Or, at least, it is now. But, see, important things of that type are uncommon, and either stay hidden or change hands frequently. They can be anywhere. So, I just made sure the real thing was here. Instead of, say, across the street. Only, I didn't have the power to make it real until the sale was made.../ "Across the..." Miro hurried to the window. Surely a blank brick wall...? But no, across the street he could now see an elaborately carved wooden store-front, with a sign bearing the legend, "The Mysticism and Power of Ancient China". And a man, in a Chinese robe was stepping out of the door, staring back at him. He looked angry. "Who-- who's that?" /Competition.../ **************************************************** Author's Notes: Heh. 1d20=value, value=yD6, yD6 * 1000 = price. Only with these items, 12D6 will soon be too small... And some items, like lembas, probably should only have a multiplier of 100. Please note, the Chinese gentleman from the shop across the street is NOT pleased that something like the Ultimate Improbability Drive was just used on something that could reasonably have been *his* merchandise. No, I don't know what the relationship between the rival shop and Pochi is, but it's not friendly. And Pochi has a lot of explaining to do. You'll notice Miro's friends are not here. Lord knows what sort of mischief they've been up to with that spell-book! Over to you, Guido! Many thanks to Cham for pre-reading.