The lion shakes his head. "No, some are quite cheap, a few silvers. But that one is a very rare title, and has sentimental value to me. If you want a cheap one..." He rummages in the shelves for a few minutes, and then pulls out a slim leather bound book about the size of a child's palm, and perhaps half an inch thick. The leather is blue and embossed with silver filligre. "This is 5 silvers, it's a pretty little thing. It's written in draconic, so you could read it. I'm not sure if you have any interest in gardening, but this little book is about growing roses." He displays the cover to Terex, a little sliver rose is on the cover. "I never learned draconic I'm afraid, so I haven't actually read it. I bought it from a trader a few years ago who did read draconic."
"May I have a look? I can read it quite well." Nate asks curiously holding a hand out to the lion.
Terex perks up. I've never read about gardening before, he broadcasts, curiosity clear in his mental voice. Maybe we can both look, Nate. You can hold it, and I can read from your shoulder.
He looks at the book, but even as he does he asks the old lion, What else do you have in Draconic? Or in Trade Tongue, that works too. I would also like a book that could help me learn Fashtali, if you have any... Oh, and I do read Elven and Dwarven, too, if you have any books in those languages.
Kincaid replies, "An expensive book... I'll have to think about it." He spends the next few minutes mulling it over and asks the squad, "What do you think? It's expensive but we wanted to visit the Centaurs, it might come in handy."
"Are we heading to the Centaurs right away? If not, I would say leave a deposit and we will come back and get it later. There might be others more pressing needs of our small collection of coins to spend on here. If we still have the funds needed when we leave, then we can pick it up."
Or they might already have enough books of their own poetry, Terex adds to the conversation distractedly, still more focused on the old lion.
Kindaid nodded, "Not a bad idea Rokas, although I don't think we've decided where we're going next." Armor clanking slightly, he turned to shopkeeper and asked, "Could we leave a deposit on the book to reserve it for a few weeks in case we decide we do want to buy it?"
Kincaid sent Terex the mental equivalent of a shrug.
"Hmm, well, I suppose I can take a deposit on it. One gold in ten seems fair." The old lion offers. To Terex, he rubs his head confusedly. "I have no talking books that could teach you to speak Fashtali, little one. I have a few children's books that we use to teach our cubs to read and write, but they don't teach you to speak it. I've never heard of a book that can teach one to speak before. Do such marvels actually exist? A talking book would make it much easier on my old eyes. My ears work just fine, of course."
Terex & Nate look over the book on roses, and it's a very dry boring thing that makes their eyes swim after a few moments of reading, they have no interest in the book...
The book was still expensive even at one gold in ten but Kincaid had a feeling about it. Kincaid counts out the coins and hands them over, "All right then one coin in ten. I'd appreciate a receipt if possible."
The old lion huffs. "Twenty years ago, I'd have challenged you to a duel over the insult, boy. However, I'll put it down to concern for my health and not concern over my honesty." The old lion rumbles, and for a second, the Kotelian's can glimpse the massive warrior that, 20 years ago, was probably more than sufficient to kill them all in a duel. However, the old lion pulls out a bit of parchment from a shelf, as well as a pen and ink well, and scribbles out a detailed receipt in flowing Fashtali script that's ornate and smooth despite the lion's age. Done, he blots it with a bit of leather and then hands the receipt to Kincaid.
Terex finds himself uncharacteristically uninterested in the book, and soon turns away.
Sorry, that's not quite what I meant. I was thinking more a book that tells you what words in Fashtali mean in the Trade Tongue, and how to put your sentences together in Fashtali, things like that. A talking book would be cool, though... I wonder if a wizard could make something like that...?
He trails off in imagination for a little while, then shakes himself and refocuses. Ummm, so what else do you have in languages I can read? I know Trade Tongue, Draconic, Elven, and Dwarven.
Within his Armour, Kincaid's eyebrows rose. No offence had been intended but he could see that it had been taken. He accepted the leather note with due reverence and replied evenly, "Please accept my apologies..."
Rokas stands aside, unsure of how to read the current mood of the old lion. Hoping that Kincaid has it under control, he wanders closer to Terex. "So, anything else you want to take a look at?"