Tome Appraisal for Alley Rat
March 23, 2021
From the Client
A very thin young Midlander woman in her very late teens approaches Amon, an old tomestone in hand. Her hay-coloured dreadlocks, decorated with beads and bangles of all sorts, click-click when she comes to a stop.
“Hello mister Amon!” she says, as bright and warm as the morning sun. He is graced with an equally cheery smile. “I have a tome-thingy for you to appraise! I found it on a beach! I don’t know how it got there, though.”
The girl holds the object forward in her slender fingers; somebody has painted a smiley face on the surface of it. The alley rat simply gives a sheepish grin.
“I thought it’d wipe off,” she says. “Oh! I have a donation for you too! I’m sorry it’s not much.” Some handful of coins. “I’m being paid now but there’s a lot of people to help!”
“Oh, you have tea? Golly, the strawberry apple one sounds really nice!” While the gentleman sets about appraising her found treasure, Alley jigs on the spot, leaning back and forth on the balls of her heels in excitement and sipping on her tea with delight.
Tome Attributes: It’s got a smiley face painted on it! (…who would do such a thing?)
Gil Donation: 55
Tea Order: Strawberry Apple Soldiery
Amon smiled warmly at Alley, her enthusiasm being quite catchy. They’d spoken a time or two, so he was genuinely glad to have the chance to talk a bit more with the cheerful young woman.
“‘Tis always nice to see you, my friend. ‘Twould be my pleasure to discover the contents of your Tome for you,” the Elezen told her while fixing her tea. “Worry not about the donation. ‘Tis only optional, but I appreciate anything you choose to give!”
He motioned to the snacks on the table seeing how much she was enjoying her tea, “Please help yourself to whatever you fancy. It shouldn’t be too long to get your Tome read.”
Amon picked up the Tome and took a glance at the painted smiley face, wondering what had prompted that. It wouldn’t hurt the contents within, but it might hurt the value as a collector’s item – if that’s what she was hoping for. Mayhaps with a bit of careful cleaning, it could come off?
Appraisal Outcome
Well, your Tome appears to read without trouble, ’tis a good thing! The data is all in tact and is actually fairly preserved for having been left out on a beach. I was concerned that sand and water could have ruined the connectors… but ’tis not the case!
In fact, this is a fairly clean copy of a study on poetry, it seems, which might have some insights into Allagan writing and linguistics. ‘Tisn’t a very long document, but it may have value to those who seek out this kind of history.
A translation of the title is: Three Simple Lines – A Poet’s Pilgrimage into the Heart of Haiku
Aye, even Allagans had haiku. Don’t be surprised by that! ‘Twas quite a pastime for them to challenge the syllable count, I’ll have you know. At least, ’tis what this document says.
Value: I feel that the content on the Tome would be valuable to the proper historians, but collectors might shy away from the Tome’s outward appearance. Which is a shame – ’tis quite a cheerful looking Tome!
Amon returned with Alley’s Tome in hand and a list of possible historians who might be interested in the writing it contains. “‘Tis up to you if you wish to share your finding with the linguists and historians. I’m not sure that it will bring much gil your way, but you can never tell. Someone out there might really want to know about Allagan haiku! Good luck my friend!”