She smiles and then leaves. It's time to go to the market.

The market!

What can be said about the famous turtle markets that has not already been repeated a hundred times in song and story? Doubtless you have heard already of the tight-packed market stalls, bedecked with colorful fabrics and selling all manner of materials, products, and devices. Terrance wanders the grasslands, from east to west and north to south, and so there is little that cannot be found somewhere in his market, for the right price.

Here, an alchemist hawking cures for exposure to poisonous metals. There, a baker inviting members of the crowd up onto a scale.

The scents of spices, flowers, tea, leather, canvas, clay, and a thousand other materials mix and twist into a wholly distinct aroma. The smell is lifted by the breezes that dart back and forth, fluttering the awnings of the stalls and carrying messages from one place in the market to another.

The flooring here is worn wood, not bare shell, the better to prevent shoppers from tripping over the thick cables that lie around Terrance's scutes and to which the stalls are affixed.

And at the center of it all, in the space kept clear of stalls (although nothing could clear it of buskers, hawkers, urchins, or miscellaneous other passers-by), sits the headquarters of the Merchant's Association: a small, cylindrical building through which stream the small rivulet of people who have not been distracted from their bureaucratic quests by the shiny temptations of Terrance's market.

So the thing about a person's weight in bread might not just be a silly example.

She looks around the market and especially tries to focus on how people seem to be feeling. The general vibe is pretty positive from a first glance. She was originally coming here to get money for an inn and that was solved at the library so she's mostly wandering aimlessly.

It does look like there's a good amount of food options and a lot of them smell appetizing so that's a good sign. Eventually, she takes a pause from her wandering to stop in the Merchant Association building.

The whole market is busy, but the Merchants' Association building is quite possibly moreso. Inside, a number of clerks sit behind a circular table. The lines, therefore, seem to naturally gravitate toward the shape of a stubby spiral galaxy: each customer lining up behind a current one, but just slightly to the side, so they can see if there's another line that's moving more quickly.

All the lines, however, are moving quickly, so she will soon reach the front; the clerks deal with the various requests with practiced efficiency.

It's weird in a sense how familiar but also unfamiliar this all is. People's clothes are different of course and the fairies and pixies flying at head height are very different, but the essence of this place is a lot like a farmers market or a bank back home.

She falls into the line almost by accident because that's just how the crowd is moving but once she realizes what's happening she decides to make the best of it. She remembers she can but a copy of the directory here and she's curious what other services the association offers. Are there signs around that provide more information on that? Alternatively can she learn about what happens here from people watching and a bit of light eavesdropping?

There are, in fact, slightly too many signs.

The building is covered in posters advertising various things. There are some large, red-painted cork-boards that seem to have official postings on them, but the rest of the wall is covered in a mixture of offers, notices, fliers, and the various other paper detritus of mercantilism. The official notice boards contain such things as current prices for renting a market stall, notices about taxes on certain kinds of goods, schedules for street cleaning, and, in a place of pride at the center of the board, a price list for various services.

If she's not interested in renting her own stall, it looks as though she can peruse the Merchants' Association services directory for free, buy a copy for her own use, arrange for escrow, arrange for an appraisal, arrange to receive notices if a certain good becomes available, or cell certain classes of good directly to the Association.

In the interests of keeping the line moving fast she'll stick to her plan of buying a copy. The appraisal option is interesting. A part of her wants to see what they would make of a small cube of aluminum or platinum. She doesn't think those were available in substantial quantities until industrialization on Earth. How much does arranging an appraisal cost?

200 resh for a quarter-hour appointment with the master appraiser (of which you can book multiple), or if you have a more complicated item you can drop it off and have it appraised for a flat rate of 350 resh when the master is between appointments.

Much as keeping a low profile is probably a lost cause she doesn't want to make that much of an impact yet so she'll keep to the copy.

She does want to make an impact eventually but she wants to understand this place so she knows what if anything she wants to change before she does.

Then her business can be concluded quickly and efficiently, leaving her with 20 fewer resh and a list of where to find various goods and services.

The market bustles around her; whither next?

Well, apparently merfolk tears are a common commodity can she find a stand selling them that might give her an idea of what those are and what they're used for?

She can!

There are, in fact, several stalls that offer them, in the same general area as a number of other raw materials for various industrial processes, such as tanning or glassmaking.

They do seem to be going in fairly large quantities; some customers are arranging delivery, and others are purchasing merfolk tears by the bottle. It's a clear, slightly viscous liquid. One of the stalls has a sample bottle that's marked as being a mixture of merfolk tears and water; the merfolk tears are clearly separating from the water and floating up to the top. The proprietor shakes it every few minutes to keep the display going.

She'll go to that one and wait for a convenient moment. "Hello, this might be an odd question but what are Merfolk Tears used for?"

"Why, they're useful for all sorts of things!" the proprietor exclaims with an expansive gesture. "They repel water, so it makes an excellent sealant. Depending on how it's rendered, it can also be a lubricant for wheels. It also helps soap deal with stubborn grease stains."

He opens a small bottle and invites her to smell.

"Plus, merfolk tears smell wonderful! If you're interested, I do also have pre-made soap, both pressed and liquid."

"Interesting. I don't think I need that right now but thank you for explaining."

"Well, if you do find yourself in need of fine soaps, soap components, or bulk cleaning chemicals, please do keep me in mind."

The proprietor sketches an elaborate bow and then turns to another passer by.

"You, sir! You look like a man who likes clean dishes!"

He was nice. What sort of food is available around this area?

There are a surprising number of places selling tea. A number of smaller people are eating berries. One place is serving slices of a single long carrot, roasting on a spit.

Other, more filling, options include roasted meats and hot sandwiches. Also available are a number of raw ingredients, such as honey, oat flour, regular flour, cheese, oil, etc.

She might find more traditional meals in a place where the kitchen can sprawl out over more than a few square feet.

Yeah she probably should have expected that. She's not urgently hungry just yet. Hmm, she should figure out where she's going to stay tonight there were some hints on the map she looked at but the directory probably has more details. What sorts of options does she have and how expensive are they?

There are five inns listed in the services directory. They range from listed rates of 790 resh per night up to 3,500 resh per night. The directory is relatively sparse on details of what sorts of accommodations they offer, but it's the nature of this sort of thing that those prices probably represent the full range of "seedy" to "overpriced".

Alternatively, there's a few boarding houses for longer-term stays, and the address of an apartment management company.

That's actually not that many options all things considered. She can afford the time to just visit all of those and walking through the streets will also help her get more of a sense of where things like restaurants are and larger stores are.

While she's walking around she'll pay attention to the people around her and the buildings. Are there substantial wealth divisions apparent? Are there groups of people who seem more worried than others? Are people talking much as they walk around and go about there business? Any recurring themes she can notice?