"Finally, a customer!"
Just as Bartley had made the decision to close up for the day, a woman of around twenty had wandered in through the open door. From his years as a slave in Essyrni, he could tell she was from there. She was certainly dressed for that kind of climate, something that she was obviously regretting. She began to speak rather unsurely, but trailed off, gazing around at the piles of old, dusty curiosities. He couldn't blame her, not many had amassed such an impressive collection of knick-knacks. Never missing the opportunity for business, he launched right into a sales pitch he'd used thousands of times before:
"Ah, so you're interested in my collection! Well, of course you are, a fine young lady such as yourself. Dangerous times out there, may I suggest something to protect yourself? No, what am I saying, someone as gorgeous as you must have a special someone protecting you anyway! So perhaps he'd like a gift, and I will tell you, my trove of wonders has everything you could think of, rings, statues, instruments, just name it!"
He rattled all this off in a matter of seconds, and just as intended, the customer looked quite disoriented. With the right pressure applied, it was time for the clincher.
"So, what can I do for you?"
The ball was in her court now.