Galleon gave a emotionless glance down at last legs, but a warm, fuzzy feeling bloomed as it rather awkwardly nuzzled her. She tried to hide a soft laugh beneath a rumble. Last legs, despite how cursed it was, was strangely kind of cute to Galleon.
"We'll see how far you can carry me, soon." The very thought relieved her. Her arms needed a break.

As the Collector approached, she made no move to stop him, only eying him as he picked up the shed crystal she'd shaken off. She mused over his words, a slight whistle the noise of her thoughts. Galleon shifted, her fins relaxing slightly. "Huh, well I suppose I'm satisfied with that answer for now. As for the venom, I think it's take you up on that offer. Not gonna do t'much with my magic anyhow. Show me what y'want me to mess with."

Doctor was greeted with a low and sweeping bow.

"Well hello, my new friend. I believe I've seen you in passing, back in Canis-? Truly, you are a scientist? I do believe I have just the thing. Just a moment..."

He went about rummaging, for a moment, behind the counter--and rather than pull something from his cloak, at length he lifted something from a box he held behind the stand, instead. It was a pair of glasses--thick-lensed and -framed, like goggles, in an ancient sort of fashion. The glass itself--the lenses--were dark, difficult to see through by any normal means.

"Try these on," he encouraged, stepping out from behind the counter and offering them out. "They once belonged to a scientist--a bit of a savant, really. I don't know all the details, of course, but they seem to provide additional insight into a surgeon's tasks. Like many old, abandoned objects, some traces of him may linger--so please, be wary that not everything you see may be real. It should wear off, in time, as all those old sorts of echoes do," the Collector added, with a dismissive wave of one hand, as if whatever it was was unimportant. Doctor would find that he was seeing--once he put the glasses on--as though in x-ray vision: it would not help much with navigation, but upon inspecting a living or even dead Gembound quite close up, he'd be able to see its anatomical details quite clearly.

"Now: if this suits you, I suggest that this may be the best match for a portion of your life, granted to it. I will make good use of what comes of it, I assure you," he added, sliding over a shard of Yellow Jade.

Galleon was presented, with a flourish, with a ring. This ring was made of segmented sections all interlocking to make it flexible, colored in garish yellow-gold splashed across shining black. "Now, the question is how to put this on you, naturally. It is fitted for the finger of a humanoid. Perhaps a... tooth, if you have something similar; or a spine that I could fit it on?" he asked. "And in return, I would ask that you grant life... to this."

A sliver of Rutilated Quartz was offered out, the Collector's head tilted as if in question.

@Galleon

Identified Item!

Galleon has received an identified item from The Blacksmith!

4★ Aphelorian Signet A thin ring made of interlocking segments of black and yellow-gold. Smells of bitter almonds.

OWNER: Galleon Aphelorian Signet A thin ring made of interlocking segments of black and yellow-gold. It constantly exudes an odor of bitter almonds. While only about an inch across, the stench of it is strong, and its segments give it immense durability. ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 100 DURABILITY: 70 SPECIAL: Wearing this ring causes the bearer to gradually develop toxin glands throughout their epidermis, which secrete hydrogen cyanide in thick sheets over their body. The ring also grants resistance to their own poison. The longer one wears the ring, the more developed the glands and prolific the toxin; if the ring is removed, the glands slowly shrink and fade away. The wearer gains the poison's bitter almond scent. MATERIAL: Yellow and blackened gold ATTACK: N/A ADDED: While not strictly cursed, the bearer of this ring will constantly exude a trail of cyanide, poisoning anything they touch. The effects of this can be quite mild, evaporating and causing no harm, or can ex. poison a water source for long periods of time. DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 15 EQUIP: Ring Currently owned by: Galleon

"Ahhh, Canis? -Yes, well--yes! I lived in the tunnel, you know, with the Sentinels of the Sands. Before they moved to Draco, became the Chaos Forge. So yes, I hunted in Canis!

He could not, of course, see what The Collector was suggesting that he "try on." Nor could he see more than the faintest trace of the wave of The Collector's hand--a streak of hot orange against Orion's cooler backdrop.

"Ahh-" was all he said, as he took in a curled foot, with long hooked talons, the glasses. It took him a moment, so that the Collector had to kneel and help him put them on--but once he'd gotten them on, he looked around him.

His stomach sank as he realized that nothing had changed. He turned, tilting his head to say as much to The Collector--and his beaked jaw dropped.

"Insight..." he breathed, in utter awe.

For the Collector's form was no longer a blur of orange, but a patchwork of glimmering, glistening bones and organs, all neatly distinct from one another. And if he focused, he found that he could see shallower, or more deeply, like a sort of x-ray vision-...

Doctor hastened to approach the offered Yellow Jade, planting a foot over it and muttering. "Yes, yes--of course--very good!" He found that he hardly cared what the child would be 'for'--he might have, in general, were he not swept up with sudden, desperate ambition. He wanted this. He wanted what it could give him.

He wanted what he could do with it.

The life-granted stone was picked swiftly back up, and then whisked away into the Collector's robes.

"Perfect," he murmured. "This contract is sealed... Now, will there be anything else?" he asked, and waved back behind the counter. "Some tea, perhaps, before you go..?"

Identified Item!

Doctor has received an identified item from The Collector!

3★ Scientist's Spectacles A small pair of round, goggle-like spectacles with battered frames and thick, dark lenses.

★★★☆☆☆ Scientist's Spectacles A pair of round, goggle-like spectacles, made in an ancient style, with battered frames and thick, dark lenses. The gold-flaked metal is chipped and scratched. "I shall journey into the heart of these caverns to conduct real science, and make real progress..." ELEMENT: MAGIC LEVEL: 140 DURABILITY: 35 SPECIAL: Grants the wearer a form of X-Ray vision, allowing them to clearly see all anatomical details, even internal, of a motionless or mostly motionless creature within three yards. MATERIAL: Metal, Glass ATTACK: N/A ADDED: CURSED. While utilizing this item's abilities, there is a sense of a looming, humanoid entity watching. The wearer can often see them as a shadowy form, and this entity offers sinister advice to the wearer, generally revolving around gaining power and knowledge at a cost to others. DEFENSE: 0 WEIGHT: 3 EQUIP: Glasses Currently owned by: Doctor

It was... odd; the moment he wavered, wondering if perhaps he ought to stay and try that tea, it felt as though he were not alone in his own mind. 'There is much you could be doing,' a thought seemed to say--but was it his own? Ahh--but did that even matter? It was right; there was much he could now do! Eagerness to get started right away seized him, and he clicked his beak softly at the Collector with overjoyed excitement.

"Perhaps--next time? I am eager to put these to the test," he explained, ruffling his wings. The flight back to Pegasus would hardly be easy, but... 'Why bother with Pegasus at all?'

Doctor paused. Had that been his own thought..? Well--it was a long flight back, in any case. Perhaps he could find somewhere closer, and work for a bit here--perhaps on some new Lesser Gembound?--before he went back home.

Yes-... that would be suitable enough. He tried to ignore the niggling feeling that this... 'ghost' or what have you, an echo of the previous owner as the Collector so claimed, was watching him in silence--and instead spread his wings and dipped his head. "Thank you, Collector," he said, heartfelt.

It was good he could not see the merchant's face; The Collector's expression would have given him pause. The pointed teeth were smiling behind the hood... and in regards to Doctor's abrupt departure, The Collector didn't seem at all surprised.

exit Doctor

Galleon's jets whistled as she thought, her eyes boring a hole into the shard of rutilated quartz. "Mmm, alright then. Sounds good enough t'me. A pleasure doin business." Galleon leaned forward, a slim trickle of Magicka finding root in the quartz stone. "As for the ring," she began. "I don't think it'd fit on a uh, a tooth. Nor a spine." Her bone sheets clacked together as she spoke. A wheezy weak laugh left her.

"Hmm, well could ye fit it ah, here? Or here?" Galleon said, shifting to offer her dorsal fin and the tapered end of one of her claws, each an option.

The Collector bowed, and swept forward to slide the band carefully over one of Galleon's tapered claws.

"There we are. If there are any issues, you may find me in Canis--once it's cleared up a little, perhaps." He shuddered, and turned, sweeping a hand out over his stand--the entirety of which folded up on itself, then vanished in a puff of dust.

"For now... I think I shall call it a day. It has been so very profitable trading with you," he added, and the way he looked out at the darkness suggested that, somehow, he meant everybody.

The Collector's Flea Market is now Closed.

@Galleon (for visibility)

Galleon lifted her clawed foot closer to her eye, twisting it this way and that to investigate it. It was not hard on the eyes, but she'd have to get used to that strange, woody scent. "Huh. Thanks," Galleon said at last. "I suppose I'd be seeing you anyways, I need to head in that direction. Good trading." Galleon said, teeth clenching in another facsimile of a grin. She then turned her attention to her second item--the wagon.

"Alright Lost Legs, time for your first test." Galleon pushed her front aboard the wagon, flopping forward until most of her bulk was aboard. This was already much better than pushing herself through the caves. "Can you take me to Hydra. Y'know where that is?" Galleon said. And then, because parsing the emotions of a piece of wood with legs was difficult, she continued. "Ah, wait. Here. I'll lead you."

Thankfully, Lost Legs seemed to have been in a cooperative mood that day. It followed Galleon's instructions easily, leading them both to Hydra once more.

"When I speak"
When I think

((I FORGOT GALLEON HAD A TABLE WHAT THE HELL))

;exit galleon