<Tacked onto the public listings board in the town green in Crossing are five nearly-identical pages, written in a precise and neat script.
Do pardon the tone of my letter, but I am still stunned by what I have witnessed. Finding the words to describe it is an ordeal in itself, let alone words that will not cause discomfort.
I write about the auction in River Crossing, sponsored by a group called the Tavern Troupe. I must first declare that of all those in attendance, I did not discern any rudeness or deplorable behaviour, as I have often been told about. On the contrary, from what I saw and heard, everyone there was a fine example of the adventuring class; friendly, and not above making the occasional jest at their own expense. Had I the courage to speak to them, I am sure I would have felt welcomed by most.
No, what boggles the mind, dear reader, is the amount of money exchanged that day.
To learn that my entire life's worth is considerably less than that of a garter is terribly sobering. I am not proud to admit that I required a heavy drink after attending the auction. The sheer disparity between the adventuring class and the rest of us is staggeringly obscene. I easily recall how my paws trembled with terror the day I was given an entire gold coin to purchase a new stove for my family. I can even now feel the coin against my palm, so tightly did I hold it. How the entire family had saved for months, making do with a kiln of mud outside the cottage.
In my brief travels around this new city, I reel at the absurdity of wealth. The entire northern gate is but a wide-open arch, and has been for my entire life, I am told. To the east, savages patrol the Middens, a town itself seemingly apart from the Crossing. There are no guards here, save the adventurers who hunt down miscreants in bloody displays of what I can only hope is deserved justice. Mud and ruins as far as I can see, for as far as I dare travel. I'm told there was a tower here long ago, where royalty lived, but now the rubble lays scattered, and ragged, barefoot children scramble and play over the bricks and shattered glass. Do these pieces of history mean anything to them, I wonder? Do they revere the rubble as my ancestors revered the hills and valleys they hunted across?
The very room the auction took place in was unfinished, though clean. I trouble myself with thoughts of why. In the midst of the Trader's guild, where so much money changes hands, why is this room incomplete? I have no answer for you. I ask myself over and over, where does the money go after this?
I add now a list of some high-priced items available at several shops in River Crossing: these prices are all in copper kronar.
A portable stove from the dry goods store - 412
An entire taffelberry pie from Saranna's Sweet Tooth - 150
A diamond necklace from Grisgonda's - 1,687
An cerulean silk dress from Marcipur's Stitchery - 718
And for the purpose of helping you understand my maddened state, I was sober enough at the auction to list everything for sale, as the auctioneer described them, and the prices which were paid. I myself attempted to participate, as a particular mauve gown caught my eye. Sadly, the final bid was more than the monetary wealth I had amassed since my arrival. Pray forgive any mistakes in the following, for I have done my best to keep up with the pace of the auction:
An asymmetrical choker wrought from hazy mistglass with a luminous moonstone ironwood flower swaying from one side - 200,000
A circlet bearing a pair of blue gold crescent moons - 177,156
A shimmering midnight blue silk blouse - 100
A front-laced moonsilk dress with an ivory linen underskirt - 11,000
A conical blue wizard's hat appliqued with silvery planets - 100
A hazy blue moonstone necklace strung with a platinum chain - 231,000
A black wool kilt fastened with a silver star-shaped pin - 5,054,462
A blue brocade jacket - 200,000
A fragile white gold crescent moon haircomb set with tiny ruby chips - 300,000
Some Xibar-blue moon pearls accented by diamonds - 5,500,000
A slender gold nose ring studded with pink sapphires - 200,000
Some white satin high-heeled dancing slippers adorned with pink sapphire bows - 80,000
A nightsilk brocade kimono with a pale moonsilk under-robe - 3,000,000
A slender belt of leather interwoven with sapphire gossamer trimmed in silvery embroidery - 101
A beribboned mauve gown encircled with tiny blue sapphires - 13,200
A sapphire ear cuff inlaid with tiny silver stars - 24,053,647
A platinum wedding band set with dozens of tiny sapphires - 10,000
A twilight blue silk garter embroidered with tiny silver shadowlings - 700,000
A pair of diaphanous frost fae wings adorned with moonsilk ribbons - 300,000
A twilight blue dancing skirt inlaid with a myriad of small silver mirrors - 1,948,717
A twilight-hued spidersilk cloak - 15,400,000
A twilight-blue gauze dress clasped at the hip with a silk nightshade blossom - 672,735
A pale ivory haircomb decorated with nightfire opals - 750,000
Some cerulean silk stockings subtly patterned with long sweeps of silvery stars - - 500,379
Some pale moonsilk stockings decorated with crescent-shaped sapphires 12,114,009
A moonsilk lady's garter trimmed with creamy lace and pink seed pearls - 847,000
A royal purple damask choker set with a princess-cut sapphire - 59,098,376
A sapphire blue wrist purse simply embroidered with a knotwork pattern in silver-colored thread - 100
A string of sapphire prayer beads - 710
A silver crescent-moon anklet strung with tiny star-shaped silver bells - 110,000
A slender lady-in-waiting's hairpin tipped with a gleaming starfire topaz - 5,706,231
A midnight blue brocade corset accented with silver embroidery - 2,750,000
A pale blue scarf of sparkling moonsilk with a delicate sapphire lace trim - 32,210
A diadem formed of a summer's heart sapphire on a twisted silver chain - 11,789,737
A sapphire-blue gossamer cloak trimmed with white lace - 100
A sapphire-blue velvet gown with long sleeves of white lace - 100,000
A blue starlight velvet nightgown with elven snowlace trim - 1,650,000
A deep midnight blue satin handbag edged by pale violet amethyst stars - 27,000
A black gold circlet set with a clear Xibar topaz - 11,000
A silver and sapphire isael - 2,850
It is indeed as the man Elec said, that quite a few things went for very low prices. 100 kronar for a cloak may not be a steal, but perhaps so for one so fine. Yet at that point in the auction I was glazed, and deeply troubled. I took note of another Prydaen who was unable to win a bid, and in her words, "Everyone was too filthy rich." Crude, but exact.
Why, I wonder, is the phrase "filthy rich" when they are anything but filthy? I cannot say I've heard anyone exclaim, "they are too filthy poor!" although that would be entirely accurate. I must end my letter here, for the sorrow in my soul demands another drink. I have the money, but not the wisdom to spend it wisely, for every injustice I have ever witnessed could be solved with a damask choker.
I think will allow myself two pints this time.
~ Rallentando
