The person with the scarring put down their hood, revealing their face. They had not yet spoken a word. Yet there was a mutual understanding between the person and Alaric that they were on somewhat of the same wavelength.
There was a general non-murderous vibe going on between the two of them.
Alaric let down the machete and put it back in his bag. This was not going to end in a fight hopefully.
The face of the person brought up even more questions for Alaric.
As the hood was lowered, their entire face revealed itself. They were extremely androgynous. It was impossible to tell if they were a man or a woman from their face. They were also bald, but still had eyebrows and eyelashes. The top of their head was a dim kind of bald, with no even small hairs. Smooth, but not shiny. It was no longer light out, so there was nothing for it to shine off of anyways.
The scarring was the most notable aspect of the person other than their height. There were dark brown segments segmenting their face that were about three inches wide and had about a four inch gap in between them.
"They look pretty much like a worm." Alaric let out a light chuckle. It was funny that someone who was related to fishing kind of looked like a worm. It was possibly intentional.
The person gestured towards the rod again, making no sound. They pointed to it with an expecting face, pretty much saying "You wan't it don't you."
Alaric did want it. He wanted the rod of this strange worm scarred person.
Alaric nodded.
The person nodded.
Then they spoke.
"Pound of flesh for rod." They said firmly in broken speech. They talked as if they hadn't talked for a long time, as if it was unnatural.
"Like you want me to do a favor..?" Alaric questioned.
The person shook their head.
"Pound of flesh. It is only like so because you are of our mind." They responded.
"Of our mind???" Alaric thought.
"Oh so you're an esoteric fisherman?" Alaric asked.
The person nodded.
"And you want a pound of my flesh for the fishing rod? Like a hunk of my flesh?" He tried to confirm.
The person nodded.
"Is it a good rod?" Alaric countered.
The person began nodding vigorously.
"How about I give you the pound, but you also tell me more about Esoteric Fishing?" Alaric asked.
The person shook their head.
"Fish first." They responded.
"But if I give you a pound of my flesh now I'll get the rod for free, no money needed?" Alaric responded.
The person nodded. The terms were very clear. A pound of his flesh in exchange for the rod.
"Can I take a look at the rod before I decide?" Alaric asked. He wanted to get the optimal deal out of this. He somewhat trusted that this person was an Esoteric Fisherman. They had a strange, fishing-adjacent appearance, and they requested a strange material.
From what Alaric knew, strange materials were crucial to Esoteric Fishing. It was not unheard of to require flesh to catch certain fish, despite how morbid it may seem. In the world of Esoteric Fishing, although this wasn't the norm, it wasn't entirely unheard of.
Alaric took the pole in his hands to examine it. The person handed it over.
"No yeah, this is sweet." Alaric said. It was a very nice rod.
The person nodded.
It was made of some kind of black metal, it was shiny. It was sleek and looked durable. He tapped it against the wall to test it.
"Feels good. This is a really good rod!" Alaric said.
The person nodded.
The weight and feel of it were immaculate, it was truly a solid rod.
"Yeah no, I'm seriously considering this, this is a cool rod."
The person nodded.
"It's not like, cursed or anything right? This isn't just some kind of strange ritual to change its possession over to me?" Alaric said.
The person paused for a second, and then shook their head.
"Be honest. Is it cursed?" Alaric re-asked.
The person slowly shook their head.
Alaric looked at the person not believing them.
The person slowly transitioned into nodding their head.
"Yeah that's what I thought." Having a strange worm person hand them this good of a rod was too good of a deal.
"How bad is the curse? Give me it in a rating out of ten using your fingers." Alaric said.
The person was in thought for a second, and then put up six fingers.
Alaric thought for a second. A six out of ten level curse wasn't bad. This was no official scale or anything, but it didn't seem horrible.
"Are there some massive benefits to it despite the curse?" Alaric wanted to confirm.
The person nodded their head confidently.
"Alright. I'll do it, but I have one final request." Alaric said.
"Can I do like a down payment on my pound of flesh, like half a pound now, half a pound when I'm assured of the quality?" Alaric tried to negotiate. If the person agreed to this, he would accept the deal.
The person went into thought, scratching the back of their bald head, playing with their cloak, and putting a fist below their chin and assuming a contemplative pose.
They then delivered the verdict.
The person nodded.
"Alright. I'll get back to you in a week. I'll be at Cornelious' Inn, if I'm not there tell the guy to leave me a message for where you are." Alaric stated. He had full intentions for completing the transaction, he didn't want to anger whatever kind of person this one was.
The person nodded.
"Alright, well I'll get to it." Alaric said.
He took out his machete before considering where to cut from.
"I'll go cut it off of my ass, don't really need too much down there." He said.
"Could you cut it off for me?" Alaric asked the person.
The person nodded.