Dar'Jiima the Secret Merchant

Taken from the dialogue of a character in the #ThalMod. Italics are PC dialogue; plain text is NPC dialogue. Bold italics are first-tier options, whereas non-bold italics are continued dialogue.

Dar’Jiima the Secret Merchant, Dialogue Extract

“Hey. Welcome to the kitchen, my own personal Adjacent Place. You look nervous. No need to be, this room is never off limits. What’s your name then?”

“I’m __. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. So, tell me something about… You. What sort of person are you? How would you, say… Describe yourself in one word? No, no. Which word describes you best of these three: kingly, rebellious, or observant?”

[Option1] “Kingly.”

“So you’re a leader with a formidable image and all the power you need to follow your will. Your will, then, is to protect the ones you love. Not a bad way to describe yourself.”

[Option2] “Rebellious.”

“So you’re one to walk your own way, laughing as the world sends you limits and you evade them all by the current of your ever-changing will. Not a bad way to describe yourself.”

[Option3] “Observant.”

“So you’re the eye that watches, tells the body when to act and the heart when to feel. Where others see nothing, you know that there is something after all. And in the end it is your will that will determine the Event. Not a bad way to describe yourself.”

[Option4] “I would rather not say.”

“So you don’t like to simplify things. You see yourself, and the world around you, for what it is – a complicated and unorganised infinity where truth is an illusion of the mortal psyche. I have the same point of view.”

“Where did you get this idea?”

“Oh, yeah. Have you met Ostanya? She told me about this thing. Some kind of philosophy term. Something-morph. En-ta-sho-morph, en-an-ta-morph… You know, a real mouthful to say. Basically it involves three kinds of beings, the ones I asked you about, and they are all connected somehow. Interesting stuff.”

“You and Ostanya are friends?”

“Well yeah. I’m friends with everybody. I’m friends with Mary’s Wing. That is the merchant’s life for you.”

“Merchant? What?”

“Not a real merchant. I trade secrets. Gossip is an economy, you see.”

“How so?”

“People come to me wanting to know something. Usually something specific. If I know it, I’ll tell them in exchange for a secret of their own. Or just as often, somebody comes here to tell me a secret that they want to get off their chest – they accept the risk of someone else buying that secret. Then I tell them a secret of my own. Usually a fun fact, just to seal the transaction.”

“But you never accept money.”

“No. That’s why people trust me. There’s no gain here besides knowledge, and I do nothing besides talk and listen. You could say I’m a middle man to steady the flow of gossip. A mediator, that’s what some call me. I like that word. Anyway, it’s the secrets I don’t know that you should be afraid of.”

“Any other policies I should know about?”

“Yeah, one other important thing. If I sell you a secret, you don’t tell it to someone else. You can act on it of course – but just don’t tell anybody the secret itself. That destroys the whole point.”

“Are there rules for the kind of secrets you accept?”

“Nope. I’ll take all you’ve got. Anything from personal drama to facts out of a book.”

“Cool.”

“Isn’t it?”

“What brings you here to Mary’s Wing?”

“I’m one of the only people Nahke trusts. That’s why I’m the cook. A cook has got to be trustworthy.”

“How do you remember all of your secrets?”

“I have a good memory.”