it actually seemed the plan they were hoping for was going to succeed. After the gate was done Cindy came back. They had already questioned her. The big thing was when Cindy was asked about the gate her answer was the truth, she had no idea how Layla had found a gate. The entire premise that Layla had made the gate wasn't even thought of.
They had decided to shore up some of their funds by trying to find a few buyers in the market. They weren't out of money but they had been generous with Jerry as the situation warranted it. They had locked the carriage, it's not like someone could take it and they would have problems on the other side, but from the outside of the carriage it was invisible, you'd have to go inside. Layla had gone back to the other side as well. Which left Sara and Kurt to do the work together.
What Kurt had realized was he was underestimating what they could probably sell, as there were various potions made out of the plant life, if they had any idea how to make any, and Kurt realized he probably did know someone Joe, the goblin shaman. He had to know something that might be usable as a recovery or something. The obvious answer of spring water wasn't usable as the effects weren't portable, they would decay as they ran out of the fountains until it was just purified waters. The problem is all they had was the raw materials, not the finished products.
He was fairly certain he could also find something from the goblins and gnomes he could sell they could make, basic furniture, and the blacksmith. The broods should be coming along as well. Raw materials can get a bit suspicious, it's easy to say things are diluted and mixed in.
The market was made of several stalls selling many of these things, there was an apothecary that was interested in several of the plants Kurt had brought, she even threw in a copy of basic potion brewing manual. Of course the more advanced stuff would be more expensive or not available at all. But the deal had worked out.
The mana stone were also easy to find buyers for, they had decided to limit how much they were selling to just a few. The outing was very successful.
"So is it always this easy?"
"A little bit, we probably could have gotten more, the stuff we have is rare, well the stuff I bring, but why bother we aren't staying and we have a lot more. We just wanna head out, since we only sold the material to the apothecary who somehow had things of her own, and each mana stone individually, even to members of the crowd. I think we are safe from too much attention. Too much attention will draw in people looking to take advantage of us, I could do more in our town where I knew some of the people."
"Yeah, I think we can start making some potions ourselves," Kurt said holding up a book, "I was going to ask Joe to help me. It's easier to say it's mostly diluted with a secret formula I would think. We need to think of more stuff we can make that doesn't lead back to the other side. Who really knows what's in scented candles and incense for example?"
"Yeah maybe you're right but the money will be less."
"What do we really need for money now? We are misting living without much for want, food and housing all provided."
"Don't ever talk like Kurt. Money moves people, that's its power. We can't do this forever, we will need a place on this side as well, and money will buy that."
"I've been thinking maybe keeping the gate destroyed is the safest option, not just a lie we hope will hold."
"But that would mean no way back wouldn't it? And you and me, Kurt you're great and everything but might want family one day, and…you know I think of you as a little brother," She rubbed her arm, "and I wasn't thinking the other one was going to be a goblin."
"Sara, I wasn't suggesting."
"I know but, I'm not ready to cut off, I'm not sure I'll ever be, that's like an emergency situation. You have to feel something strange about it."
"Well maybe not forever though, we never really asked Layla about it. There wasn't one the first time, so maybe we can have the best of both worlds!"
"For some reason I don't think that's possible, why wouldn't Layla think of it?"
"Well, maybe you're right, it's as simple as she would take us back to the same place we left and that wasn't a good idea anymore. Or like it doesn't solve the problem because it fades or something, too long on one side and can't do it again or something But we should check." Kurt eventually did check with Layla and he was right, too long without someone on this side there was a chance the connection would be lost, and Layla was worried that they'd have no idea when they stopped watching the location.
"But for now I think we are in the clear, next we have to figure out the next stop, something more permanent."
"Yeah, someplace we can stay and put the gate up there, I'd rather it be in a locked room's closet than out in the field in the carriage. Even a shed or something like that."
"Let's grab a few drinks from the stand over there and figure out where we are going, I'll buy a map too. We should be fine on funds for a bit."
They were sitting at the small stand both with an alcoholic beverage for themselves, looking at the map. There was a few options, since they wanted to avoid the clan city states, they would have to choose if they wanted to start in a bigger city or continue with smaller towns like Clarksville, or a mix and match.
They also had to decide how to proceed, did they really want to sell everything themselves or were they looking for a big player they could make a deal with. There were a lot of advantages to making a deal with an established merchant of some kind. But it also most likely meant they would have to show them the gate, as they would have to make sure they weren't stealing from the clans. Which had risks in itself. As the merchant could turn them in and still have the deal with the clan. It came down to trust.
Realistically, they really couldn't keep doing it on the street level, they would be caught either by some thug capo, or one of the clans eventually if they kept it up forever. But they couldn't walk into some city and expect not be taken advantage of as well, even if they don't turn them into the clan, they would be able to have a force themselves. It came down to greed.
After a bunch of discussion, they decided to go to a smaller town on the outskirts of the city, the thinking was, it would be easier to figure out who was who in a smaller town, and most likely they would have a connection to someone in a bigger city. The fact really was, they could ramp up production easily. Kurt had been gathering, not farming, collecting not mining. And if that didn't work, they could always go to another town and try again until it worked. If someone's reputation was bad they could go. So that limited the choices but there were still some candidates to choose from.
"What about getting on a boat and just leaving the continent? I'm sure we can bring the carriage, I mean we could sell it too, though I'd hate to do that after we just got it. But I've always wanted to see Dekastan. that would mean going east to the coast, that is not very far really at all."
"That's another potential option. Damn there are too many to choose from, might as well throw a dart at the map. I see nothing wrong with a bunch of these towns near the two big cities south of here as well."
This was going to take a while.