Everyone likes a good story. It doesn’t matter who you are. You could be rich or poor,
a man or child, a king or a barkeep. Stories are powerful, and they can be very persuasive.
I learned a long time ago that if you can master the art of storytelling, you can become
a very rich man. For the last time, I’m a simple merchant, not a collector of silly
curiosities.Come on mister, this weird pot has to be worth something! I mean look at
it. It’s all shiny and stuff. I said no! I’m not asking for much. Just
a small cut of mammoth meat and- Why don’t you use that little bow of yours to hunt some
nice juicy rats! Now go away, you’re going to scare away my real customers. Hello there
friend. What can I get for you? You wouldn’t happen to have some leather strips would you?
Absolutely we do. Let me show you to our- Wait… Is that what I think it is? Huh? Solid
metal frame and ornamentation. Annular engravings. By the nine… This is one fine Dwemer artifact.
Whose is it? Well well. Looks like someone’s interested in what I have to sell.
You’re saying that ugly pot was made by the Dwarves? So what. You’re in Skyrim friend.
Dwarven ruins are everywhere, and they’re full of junk like that.
Junk?!? Friend, the Dwemer aren’t in the business of making “junk”. Besides, this
is not a pot. It’s a Dwemer urn, and by the looks of it, it’s authentic. Must be
over a three thousand years old, and with fine craftsmanship like this, I bet you couldn’t
smash this urn even if you tried.
Please… It’s an urn, not a suit of steel armor.
You’re right, it’s not as strong as steel… it’s stronger!
The Dwemer perfected the
art of metallurgy long before the Nords stepped foot in Skyrim, and their techniques were
so advanced that we still can't replicate their craft.
Aha! Now I know you’re lying through your teeth. I sold some rations to a mercenary
wearing a brand new Dwarven cuirass just last Morndas.
It was fake, like all of them. A modern replica, nothing more. Why else would there be so many?
Most smiths just copy the patterns and make
sure they're shiny... the few reputable ones melt down scrap and fold it into the armor.
They’ve got a “Dwemer ore” they smith things from, but anyone with half a brain
knows that authentic Dwemeri metal is a complex alloy. Legend has it that the Dwemer used
some kind of “tonal architecture” to augment their metals, making them more durable and
stronger than anything we can produce today.
The only way to get real Dwemeri armor is to find it in their ruins, or rip apart centurions
and wear their shells.
Ask Balimund if you don't believe me, but it sure would be a pity to see such exquisite
workmanship melted down for scrap.
Well… if you say-- Would you mind if I took a closer look, child?
This is... hmmm... mmhmm. hmm... Yes, I see.
The Dwemer rarely used ornaments in there craft and when they did it was angular and geometric.
Maybe it belonged to an important architect or engineer? They
were as important to the Dwemer as priests are to us, you know.
Where did you say you found this?
Avan-- Avanchz--
Ah, Avanchnzel! The fact that you made it out alive, much less with treasure, is a miracle.
I’ve tried to explore its depths many times, only to be driven back by ghosts and animulculi.
Its one of the best preserved Dwemeri citadels in Skyrim, one of the few that’s still making
new centurions after its builders disappeared from the face of Mundus. This urn might be
the only one of its kind in human hands!
An artifact like this only comes around once in a lifetime. The metal adornments alone
are worth a small fortune, and scholars would fight for the opportunity to study it. How
much do you want for it, little miss?
I dunno. 100 gold?
A bargain! Sold!
Now wait just a minute. This is my establishment and I’ll be damned if you think you can
cheat me out of a trade. Kid, I’ll give you 200 gold pieces for that rusty piece of
scrap.
300 gold pieces! Now what do you say to that?
Ok! 400 gold septims! Kid, that’s as much as you could ever hope to get for that glorified
flower pot, now hand it over.
Listen kid, I have 500 gold pieces if you can wait a couple days for me to get it.
1,000 septims! I have the gold right here.
Aaand I’ll throw in a sweetroll!
My wife baked it fresh this morning. Take it or leave it kid. I haven’t got all day.
Okay, sold!
I should have never opened my mouth.
*Laughs* Fools. I’m sure this little beauty will fetch me
10 times that price back in the Imperial City.
It’s almost too easy.
What did I tell you? There’s nothing like a greedy, gullible shopkeeper to line your
pockets.
Did you see the look on his face when you pointed to that pot like it was some long
lost Daedric artifact?
I could have told that idiot that Tiber Septim himself wore that pot as a hat and he probably
would have given you the clothes right off his back. *laughs*