[Maruem]

Maruem stood from his seated position in the small corner cafe he had just finished his lunch of a few small neatly cut sandwiches. He paid his bill at the front counter and began to make his way out of the cafe before he realized he was missing something. He turned around bowed under the low threshold once more and grabbed his cloak from its resting place on the back of his chair.

He turned and thanked the nice lady at the counter once more before stepping out into the busy Romalian streets. A cart passed him carrying in it lumber and stone. A construction project was clearly underway. It was true that much of the outer edge of the city was in shambles. The buildings stood on the outskirts as though they were ancient ruins, and that energy was felt. Whatever caused their destruction, it was clear that the rebuilding process was still an extremely long way from finished.

He snapped his attention away from the now distant cart, and began making his way out of the streets of this small side food court area. He moved at a pace slower than many of the people around him, but he walked with intent, if a bit of uncertainty as to where exactly he was headed.

Maruem marched on a ways further before he decided he would rather not get completely lost. He stopped a man who was about to pass him with a kind but confident “excuse me” and the gentleman passing him halted in anticipation of why he was being stopped. He was asked where the market stalls could be located, specifically those vendors dealing in timber and other carpentry related things. The man gave Maruem quite specific directions, even which row it was in amonst the many rows of stalls. Maruem thanked the man for his time and made his way toward where he had been directed.

Eventually, he found himself between the busy stalls looking for his target. He was hoping this was the place he would find a large quantity of lumber to experiment his carpentry with. He walked for quite some time, passing a fish vendor, a meat vendor, a gourd vendor, a fruit vendor, a flower vendor, and yet nothing, not one lumberjack ready to part with his stacks of timber.

Then he realized what row he was in. Perhaps in his rush, the man had simply mistaken the row, but it was two over. Maruem exited the row of stalls vending in fresh produce and made his way into the row with many of the crafting materials. Eventually, he found what he was looking for.

He stood before a stall packed with raw logs, large timbers, and an assortment of carpentry tools. He tapped the short, stout, sleeping man who owned the stall on the shoulder and after the man's eyes were sufficiently alert for him to seem awake he introduced himself as Maruem. The man introduced himself as Dozla and asked how he could help Maruem. Maruem asked for ten of his lowest rarity pieces of Lumber, and when he was told the price, he handed over the 150 gold pieces in a small brown leather pouch, thanking the man for his business and cramming his new wood into his bag.

Word Count: 550
Purchased: 10 Lumber