Worth Its Weight In Gold

"What if, it was Elven made? With magical properties?"

"That would change the entire value of the item. Miss Vyrena, do you know the difference between an Elven Gemstone and a Dwarven one?"

Vy shook her head, but she wanted to know! Mrs Rudy called for one of her shop assistants to bring two pieces of jewellery. The other customers who were intrigued by the conversation came over to have a look. They crowded around the counter, waiting intently for Mrs Rudy's explanation.

On the countertop, was two nearly identical pairs of sapphire earrings. The craftsmanship was intricate, for the gemstones were carved into the shape of roses. But there was something about the pair on the right that made it that much more special.

Mrs Rudy pointed you the pair on the left and explained, "This pair is mined by the Dwarves and carved into the shape they are. As these are star sapphires, they would easily go for between 100 to 200 silvers. Dwarven Gemstones have multiple sources and grades, and so those the craftsmanship."

The shop assistant brought over a scroll which Mrs Rudy revealed to everyone as a Certificate of Authentication for the earrings. It had the emblem of the Dwarven Jeweller's Guild sealed onto the certificate.

"Because is this authentication, this pair of earrings go for 200 silvers."

The customers were surprised! 200 silvers were equivalent to 4 gold coins. They began to chatter amongst themselves. A gentleman in a top hat eagerly asked a question.

"What about the other pair, Mrs Rudy?"

She held up the other pair of sapphire earrings and explained, "These are Elven made."

"Made?" Vy asked.

Mrs Rudy nodded, "Yes, made. Elven magic is unique. Their gemstones are mined in small batches, it would never be bigger than the size of a pin. An Elf would use their magic and singing to grow and mould the gemstones into their desired form. This process not only creates beautiful and unique pieces, but gemstones produced are also often imbued with magic too."

As the customers admired the beauty of the sparkling sapphire earrings, she continued to speak, "Because of their limited quantity, intensive labour, beauty and magical properties, their value is a lot higher."

"How much is it?"

"Yeah, Mrs Rudy, don't keep us in suspense for too long!"

The other customers are eager to find out the price, and so was Vy. She had to admit, Mrs Rudy's showmanship was genius! A skill Vy would love to have.

"20 gold coins."

The unified gasp of the customers, including Vy said it all. Not 10 but 20 gold coins? This made Vy wonder, how much would her emerald be worth?

"Based on what you have told us here if this emerald was truly moulded and created using Elven magic, that would mean.."

"Depending on the type of emerald, it could even be worth upwards of 2 golden dragons."

"Two golden dragons? Woah," one of the customers exclaimed in shock.

"I don't think I have ever seen anything like it!"

The reveal caused much commotion amongst the customers. Vy was surprised. She recalled her conversations with Carole and the rest of the stall keepers. The conversion rates were difficult to remember. Mrs Rudy noticed Vyrena's expression and read her mind.

"With the current rate of exchange, 2 golden dragons would be around 200 gold coins."

One could live comfortably for the rest of their lives with 200 gold coins. Vy imagined owning a large piece of land in the countryside, with wheat fields and pastures for horseback riding. She would have a whole village working for her, and she would never have to worry about anything ever again.

"I'm assuming that in order for me to sell it at such a price, it would need to be appraised and authenticated," Vy asked.

"Yes, that is correct. But there isn't anyone in town who would be able to do it. You would likely need to head to the Elk Forest."

The name sounded familiar, Vy recalled where she had heard it before. It was during her conversations with Coco, about a person who might have been an Otherworlder too. The Elk forest was where the Elves Alliance was.

A network of cities connected to one another with a capital city in its middle. It was an Alliance that had said to last for thousands of years. Mrs Rudy could tell that Vy intended on taking that trip. But it was a long journey from the town of Timbretune unless one had a quicker way of travel.

Unknown to most townsfolk, whose lives revolved entirely around the happenings of the surrounding area, there were indeed more methods of travel. However, these methods were costly and oftentimes not available to everyone. One had to know people before they could be offered these methods of swifter, more efficient travels.

"There may be another method of travelling. For you to get to the Elk Forest from here would take a month's travel or more. But, there might be a swifter, more efficient way to go about it."

By now, most of the other customers had either left to make their own purchases or left the store entirely. The conversation was only between Mrs Rudy and Vy.

"How much would it cost," Vy asked.

"Actually, this method would not cost much. It does involve you travelling a little, but it would cut short the entire journey," Mrs Rudy replied. She signalled Vy to follow her to the back of the store.

Vyrena followed without question and once Mrs Rudy closed the door behind them, she looked through the shelves for a scroll and handed it to Vy. As Vyrena inspected its contents, she realised that it was a map, with key locations marked out with the glowing symbol of a green coloured leaf.

Mrs Rudy pointed to one of the marked out locations and explained, "This is a map with the keystone portals marked out."

"Keystone portals?"