[ WP ] You run an RPG pawn shop . You haggle with adventurers who try to sell loot they 've acquired .

I was wiping down the counter when Microx and Gorgon walked into the store. These two, shady as hell and always trying to unload whatever rubbish they'd found as something amazing. I entertained them because they were generally good for a laugh and every once in a while they actually managed to bring in something that could turn me a profit. 
 
 `` Lads,'' I greeted them without looking up, staying engrossed in the last stubborn smudge on the counter. Best not to let them think there was any eagerness or interest, otherwise they'd be badgering me all afternoon for a better price. 
 
 `` G'day,'' Microx almost shouted. He looked more excited than normal, as if he could n't wait to show me what he had. He rocked from foot to foot as he exclaimed, `` Guess what I found!'' 
 
 `` Alright, let's see it.'' 
 
 Microx reached into his pack and retreived his prize, proudly putting down a muddy shoe on my clean countertop and beaming like an idiot. 
 
 `` The fuck is this?'' I asked, eyeing off the mess I would now have to be cleaning up, casually considering using his face to do it. They noticed my darkening expression and glanced warily out the door where their two horses were tied to a hitch. 
 
 `` Shoes of Speed,'' Microx ejected, trying to distract me from the mess. `` They'll make the wearer run really fast.'' 
 
 `` There's only one of them,'' I pointed out. `` It's a shoe of speed.'' 
 
 `` Well, it'll still make you run fast,'' Microx objected. Undeterred by my unimpressed expression he plowed on, `` I wore it today. Ran most of the way here. Gorgon could n't keep up so I took it off.'' 
 
 `` How does that even work though? By itself I mean. It'll speed up half your body. Not much good if you're only taking every second step really fast.'' 
 
 Microx's eyes narrowed as he thought about the problem. `` Well... I hopped. Just one leg and it was just as fast.'' 
 
 `` So'Shoe of Hopping' then. Does n't have quite the ring to it,'' I muttered. `` Not sure anyone's going to be interested in buying this.'' 
 
 `` Someone would,'' Microx objected. `` They could save them and then when they get another speed increasing shoe or something, they can wear that on the other foot. Then they'll still be fast.'' 
 
 It was my turn to narrow my eyes, only this time with a healthy dose of skepticism. `` So if someone got their hands on a Slipper of Celerity or a Gumboot of Velocity, or something like that?'' 
 
 Microx nodded eagerly. 
 
 `` But then the speeds would be different. One would go faster than the other; you'd twist your back. You ever twisted your back before?'' 
 
 Microx shook his head. `` Nuh.'' 
 
 `` Well I have,'' I said as I gave my lumbar region a cursory stretch. `` Lifting kegs into a cellar at the pub. I was laid up for weeks and could n't lift a damn thing. Does n't sound like a good deal to me.'' 
 
 `` You could swap feet when you start getting sore on one side,'' Gorgon chimed in, piggish eyes wide under his shock of ginger hair. 
 
 `` What, change your shoes from foot to foot? That's a right shoe, you dimwit. How are you gon na squeeze that onto your left foot? No, I'm not sure this is worth a damn thing by itself.'' Both of their mouths opened as if to protest, but I cut them off. `` What have you got for me?'' I shot at Gorgon, derailing his simple thought process. 
 
 `` Oh, this,'' he declared. He slammed a folded handkerchief forcefully down on my mud-stained counter and then gingerly opened it to reveal badge or brooch of some kind, embossed with a cross motif in the middle. 
 
 `` Amulet of Bulletproof!'' he told me, watching carefully to see my expression change. 
 
 It did, but with disdain rather than interest. `` Bullets have n't been invented yet,'' I reminded him. 
 
 `` Works on arrows too,'' he insisted. 
 
 `` Now how the bloody hell do you know that?'' I asked. 
 
 `` I got shot by goblins while we were escaping,'' he insisted. `` I tried to dodge, but they got me a bunch of times.'' 
 
 `` How many times?'' I demanded. 
 
 Gorgon glanced quickly at Microx. `` Three,'' Microx supplied. 
 
 `` Three times,'' Gorgon said quickly. `` Most of them missed but three got me and they just bounced off.'' 
 
 `` So how do I know for sure it works then?'' I asked. `` You might have used it all up.'' 
 
 Microx hefted his crossbow, thankfully unloaded and said,'' You could wear it and we could shoot you. Then you'll see.'' 
 
 `` I think I'll pass,'' I replied. `` Does seem a nice amulet though. What are you guys asking for it?'' 
 
 `` Twenty gold for the lot,'' Microx demanded, clearly eager to unload his shoe in the same transaction. I figured the amulet was going to be worth it even if I had to toss the shoe in the rubbish. 
 
 `` I'll do you eight,'' I offered, intentionally low-balling them. 
 
 `` Ten!'' Gorgon countered with predictably. 
 
 `` Ten it is lads.'' I opened the till and gave them a crisp ten dollar note. `` Thank you,'' they chorused and in a flash, Michael and George Parkinson barreled out the doors of my shop, collecting their bicycles from where they'd propped them up so they could go off on their next grand adventure. 
 
 I tossed the shoe into the bin at my feet, shaking my head over the now drying mud on my formerly clean counter. The'amulet' however, that was an interesting find. Where the hell had those two little shits got their hands on a World War 2 era Iron Cross pendant. Regardless of where it came from, it was going to earn me a bit more than the ten dollars I'd parted with for it.
