North Sea Dungeon

[Pickpen]

There's the low hum of lively conversation, a familiar noise for anyone entering the Plaza. Merchants trying to sell last minute supplies to adventurers before they descended into the depths, and parties returning beaten and battered. The ever shifting flow of people paid no heed to the shadows of the room, in which a young half-foot stood, silently observing. Not that he would ever catch anyone's eye, the way he carried himself made it clear he didn't want to be seen, but a cursory glance would betray that he appeared to be a merchant himself. The small bags he carried with him certainly couldn't have been filled with provisions for a journey.

Whatever he was selling, he was waiting for the right group of people to catch his eye.

[Theriot]

Theriot's heeled boots clicked with each step he took around the stone floors of the plaza, he looked around in awe at the variety of wares and merchants that lined the walls. He had arrived at the island not 24 hours before, his hair still smelling faintly of salty sea water, and wanted to get acquainted with the place before his first dungeon dive.

He walked slowly, heavy eyes landing on each product and price sign carefully as if assessing their value, though it was obvious for any seasoned adventurer he had no idea what most of these tools were for. He found himself walking in circles for a while, eventually stopping in place to retrace his steps merely a few feet away from an inconspicuous looking half-foot.

[Pickpen]

It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the man aimlessly wandering through the main plaza gawking at wares was new here. Anyone with experience would know what they wanted, and any browsing would be done to get the best deals. Pickpen had been watching him for some time now, amused with the spectacle. While he doubted that his wares would be useful to this man in the moment, there was a chance to secure a future sale. And if not that, then he could at least entertain himself for a bit. As the man's pacing slowed once more, Pickpen cleared his throat to shake the scratch of disuse from his voice, before stepping forward.

"Sorry if I'm being presumptuous, but are you new here? You look a little lost." He says, an open and friendly look on his face as he speaks to Theriot.

[Theriot]

The man suppressed a yelp as he was startled out of his thoughts. He turned towards the voice behind him but couldn't see anyone, until he looked down at the half-foot with wide eyes, he lifted a hand up to his neck sheepishly.

"Ah no no, you're right, I am" He chuckled trying to shake off the initial surprise of the interaction "I just got a bit overwhelmed and lost my way back to the exit"

After a few seconds he leans forward, unconsciously lowering himself a bit to be closer to this new person and offer them his hand.

"My name is Theriot, I'm from the Eastern continent, I actually just arrived yesterday"

[Pickpen]

Hah, this guy was acting like he'd never talked to a half-foot before. Mentally turning up his nose a bit to the offered hand, Pickpen steps forward to shake it with smile. "It's good to meet you, then! I'd point you to the exit right away, but you're a new adventurer, right?" He says, skirting around giving the stranger his own name in turn.

[Theriot]

What a nice guy! Theriot smiled, still slightly hunched down towards the man.

"Yes actually, I came here to hopefully get a feel for things before diving in" He explained, then paused to look the half-foot up and down with the same pleasant smile "You must be one too, right? Starting out young?"

[Pickpen]

Pickpen really hoped that Theriot meant young as in 'young man', rather than a child. Judging by this man's clothes, he likely had some interesting bits and bobs on him. And thus, Pick pushed through, not letting things slip.

"I go down quite into the dungeon a lot, but I wouldn't call myself an adventurer. See, I sell maps of the dungeon. I'm trying to empty out my stock before I go back for more up to date ones!" He smiles, stepping back and gesturing to one of the small bags on the ground. "Of course, if you're not going down, they're not gonna be much help to you right now." Pickpen laughs, before launching into a more in depth sales pitch. "We pride ourselves on giving the most accurate maps, tracking the movements of roaming monsters, giving everyone all the information they need to do what adventurers do."

[Theriot]

Theriot nodded, listening to the sales pitch carefully, he looked at the products in the bag with interest. He couldn't tell the actual quality of them from were he stood, his mapping knowledge a bit rusty since he last practiced, but the prospect of learning more about the dungeon before going inside it was tempting.

"Ah I see I see, when will you be going back down for newer ones? Do they change a lot from batch to batch?" He tilted his head to the side, a finger on his chin like he was a kid wondering out loud, his father would chastise him for acting childish if he were here. "Also how often do you update them?"

[Pickpen]

"It depends, usually it's when my stock runs out. But if there's a shift in the dungeon, I immediately go back down to get new ones. You could still use the older ones, but if you end up at some impassable chasm or getting eaten by a pack of monsters, you can't blame me anymore, can you?" Pickpen explains, crossing his arms. "I mean, there's enough new adventurers coming through the dungeon now that it's really stirring up a lot of new monster hotspots... I'd want the newest one. But hey, that's just what I think is smartest. I'm just the delivery guy, I don't make them." He tacks that on at the end, washing his hands of any parties that might have gotten wiped by following one of his maps.

[Theriot]

The explanation seemed to track inside Theriot's brain, this guy just sounded like he knew what he was doing, and why would he lie about something like map making?

"That makes sense, how much would you like for one of the newer ones?" He carefully unties a bag from his belt, the contents inside clinking together as he opens it to look inside "I was thinking on signing up for that dungeon dive event happening next week and I want to be prepared" He explains idly.