Merchants

Merchants across Valdaria keep shop by their trade and their town. A merchant bears a small badge naming their trade, and trading with one opens a storefront in the conversation: their wares, your goods, and a running tally of the coin between you.

The storefront

The storefront shows the merchant's name and trade, the coin they have on hand, yours, and a countdown to their next restock. Three tabs hold the trade: Wares, Sell, and Buyback. You can stage lines across all three and confirm them as one exchange, so a sale can fund a purchase in the same breath. Leaving without confirming costs nothing.

Wares list each item's name, rarity, item level, and price. A piece's exact rolls stay the shopkeeper's secret until it is yours. Lines above your reach still show, locked, with the reason named.

A merchant pays only from their own coin: what they can buy from you is capped by what they hold, and your purchases go into their till, refilling what they can pay you before the next restock.

Stock and restocking

A merchant's shelf follows their trade and scales with their town; a village stall keeps fewer lines than a city shop. Stock refreshes on a regular cycle, and the storefront counts down to it. The finest works never sit on a shelf: Legendary and Mythic pieces are found, not sold. Game time moves through rest and travel, so the next restock is never far off.

Special orders

Ask for something a merchant does not stock and, if they can source it, they set it aside at a firm price: a premium over the fair rate, pinned when the order is made. The set-aside line joins their wares, marked as yours. Asking again does not reroll the offer, and an unclaimed order lapses with the restock. The finest rarities cannot be ordered, and bespoke work such as engraving or fitting is a commission, not a shop order.

Buyback

What you sell a merchant stays in their keeping for a time, offered back at a premium over what they paid. Buyback is never level-locked: what was yours can always be yours again. Ordinary goods move on after a restock or two, but your rarest pieces are kept aside for you as long as the merchant trades.

Haggling

Prices lean on your Bartering skill: a practiced barterer buys for less and sells for more, line by line, and the storefront's rate line reflects the lean. Beyond the standing rate, a bargain can be struck in conversation, where a won Bartering check can move a price further in your favor, within reason; a merchant never pays more than a piece is worth to them. Trading itself sharpens the skill.