"This musket… what's going on with it?" Anser lightly tapped the armrest with his fingertip, his expression puzzled.
"Sir, you may not be aware—on the continent of Faerûn, there are very few who can manufacture muskets and smokepowder. The Kingdom of Amn is said to have obtained the backing of a certain artificer organization, which is how it possesses so many muskets…" Sidney explained patiently.
Firearm technology on the continent of Faerûn mainly originated from Lantan. It had already existed as early as the fourteenth century of the Dalereckoning, but due to the conflict between magic and physical laws, early muskets suffered from extremely high malfunction rates. Moreover, they had to rely on Lantan's smokepowder, which kept costs prohibitively high.
In recent years, a special profession known as artificers has gradually risen to prominence. Not only do they master firearm technology, they can also manufacture high-powered weapons of war, making them highly sought after by all major powers.
Muskets may appear somewhat lackluster, but they have long range and formidable power. Their damage is 1d12—higher than that of the vast majority of military weapons, on par with a greataxe.
The key point is that even ordinary people can use them. Once deployed at scale, their deterrent effect and destructive power are both exceedingly strong.
For those nobles and rulers, professional adventurers are difficult to control—but musketeers are entirely controllable.
"Artificers…" Anser's gaze turned deep and distant. He was familiar with this profession.
Artificers include alchemists, magitech gunners, battlefield engineers, and armorers. The inventions they produce, along with magic items, are employed in both peace and war.
In the background, their presence wasn't strong, but reality was different. The existence of these people was very likely to stir up the continent's situation, ignite endless war, and make the already disaster-ridden Toril even worse.
He shook his head. Thinking about that now was still too far off.
Aside from the muskets, the prices of the other items on the list were not high. The two wands were priced at 200 gold coins each, the ring of water walking at 260 gold coins. The most valuable were the two swords: the Silent Sword at 900 gold coins, and the magic greatsword at 520 gold coins.
Sidney did not explain. He believed that Anser, as a spellcaster, would surely understand the reason behind it.
"Your appraisal seems not very accurate." Anser looked at the brief evaluation on the list and said, "This bow and warblade carry a weakening curse; if the user can't withstand it, their life will be damaged. This hand-and-a-half sword is called the Silent Sword; it has the Toughness and Windcutter properties…"
Sidney and the old appraiser exchanged a glance, their expressions a bit unnatural.
"Sigh, it's all because of the Weave's turbulence…" Sidney admitted frankly.
There were mainly three ways to appraise magic equipment: the Identify spell, long-term focused sensing or Attunement, and experience and knowledge. Silver Scale Bay was a small place and had no master appraisers; it mainly relied on the Identify spell or items that granted the Identify spell.
However, with the Weave in disarray, the Identify spell couldn't be cast. Relying only on experience, knowledge, and testing led to large errors, and when they couldn't make up their minds, they could only give a low price.
"I'll talk; you write."
"Good." The old appraiser was more than willing. He might not fully trust it, but verifying or reasoning backward from the results was far simpler than appraising from scratch.
A few minutes later, the old appraiser repriced the magic items.
The Silent Sword was 1,250 gold coins, and the magic greatsword was 630 gold coins. Both were excellent pieces of equipment among items of the same tier and would only become more sought after over time.
The prices of the other items did not change much, because they were truly rather useless.
"4,135 gold coins in total."
"Mm." Anser handed the list to Bratt, his expression calm and unreadable, though inwardly he felt that these few battles had not been fought in vain.
He had no sign-in system, nor could he live forever. Hiding timidly at all times would only cause him to miss countless opportunities. When the risk was not great, he had to step forward.
Otherwise, when crises struck or as age gradually caught up with him, all he could do was lament that legend was drifting farther and farther away.
"Do you have any wands of decent quality, or suitable magic items? Bring them out for a look." Anser did not consider himself a miser; earning money was meant to be spent.
"Please wait a moment." Sidney's face immediately broke into a broad smile.
Shortly thereafter, the long counter was filled with all kinds of magic items, each with an appraisal certificate placed beside it.
Sidney stood behind the counter, his smile carrying a trace of pride, confidence overflowing—this was the foundation of an old noble house of Waterdeep.
"Sir, I've heard that you have an exotic warhorse. Perhaps these two items might be of use to you." He pushed forward a pile of leather and metal faintly gleaming with magical light. "These were originally meant to be taken to Waterdeep, but the steward requested that I keep them here for two days."
"Saddles? Horseshoes?" Anser asked in surprise.
"These were sent by a well-known noble knight, exchanged for a set of property in Waterdeep and passage for the entire family. A finely made saddle, and a set of rare horseshoes…" Sidney launched into an enthusiastic introduction.
Anser smiled faintly. So this so-called noble foundation was all built on "taking advantage of a fire." When Baldur's Gate fell into disaster, many wealthy merchants, nobles, and professional adventurers fled to Silver Scale Bay and had no choice but to sell off their possessions.
He stepped forward and picked up the appraisal certificate, but did not fully trust it. Instead, he took the opportunity to use dice-based appraisal.
...
[Magic Item: Iron Cavalry Saddle]
Category: Wondrous Item.
Rarity: Uncommon.
Mount Protection: Attack rolls made against the mount are made with disadvantage.
Steady Rider: Your riding posture is more stable; you will not be forcibly dismounted under non-voluntary circumstances.
[Magic Item: Westwind Horseshoes]
Category: Wondrous Item
Rarity: Rare
These horseshoes come as a set of four. With a magical command, they can be affixed to the hooves of a horse or similar creature; removal requires the same method.
Levitation Field: While all four horseshoes are attached and active, the creature hovers 10 centimeters above the ground and can move normally. This allows the creature to pass over or stand upon non-solid or unstable surfaces, such as water or lava.
Freedom of Movement: It ignores difficult terrain and leaves no tracks.
In addition, the creature can travel for up to twelve hours per day and does not suffer exhaustion from long-distance travel.
...
"It can run on water?" Anser's eyes widened in surprise.
"Indeed. With these, you could ride freely across the River Chionthar," Sidney said, his gaze flickering as calculations ran through his mind.
In his view, this item was the ultimate dream of all knights. He did not believe anyone could resist such temptation.
Anser took a deep breath and steadied himself. "How much?"
"The Iron Cavalry Saddle is included as a bonus. As for the Westwind Horseshoes… forty-one thousand gold coins. Absolutely the lowest price in history—under normal circumstances, if you wanted to buy them, you'd probably have to try your luck at an auction." Sidney's eyes never left Anser's face.
Anser's breathing stalled. He did not reply.
Selling a Rare magic item for tens of thousands of gold coins was indeed reasonable. The problem was that he did not have the money.
"This thing… has a very narrow range of applications. If it's only on land, my horse… can't really make use of it," he said, doing his best to convince himself.
"That's a one-sided view," Sidney said, pretending not to notice his hesitation and continuing his sales pitch. "What about cliffs and mountains? Swamps and deserts? Icefields and lava? Even if you never go to those places, jumping too high in battle can easily twist an ankle, can't it? Not to mention being intangible and leaving no trace makes it harder to track…"
"I don't have the money." Anser waved his hand and cut him off.
"No problem at all." Sidney smiled so broadly that his face creased with wrinkles. "The Margaster Family would like to hire you as a private tutor, to instruct the young lords and young ladies who have not yet come of age. Compensation is negotiable, but it will certainly be generous."
"During that period, you may use these items unconditionally and repay the cost gradually."
Anser raised a hand to his forehead, pretending to smooth his hair, his thoughts in slight disarray.
Why does everyone resort to this move? Am I really that appealing? I'm just buying something, and they've already found me a job?
Although he was a Sorcerer, developing innate magic relied entirely on a character sheet—he truly could not "teach" others.
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