The human clerk holds the scale up to a light. “This isn’t the scale of just any snake. It is a scale from the king of serpents. The Basilisk.”
Rosha frowns, “The scale looks a little small? Or is the Basilisk actually one of those chicken-snake things?”
The clerk laughs, “Both!
“Though the chicken one is more commonly called a cockatrice. Because they are different monsters. The original names come from the fact that on the surface, the two are similar. Death and pestilence on a wide scale.
“However, the cockatrice is a pure monster. Some have debated whether it should be counted as a form of chimera. Except, despite the stitched-together look, that is simply what they look like. Think of them like a platypus.”
Rosha, “Still doesn’t explain why it is so small?”
The clerk shrugs, “Well, for one, an enormous snake will still have small scales in certain places on its body. However, that isn’t why this scale is small. I can’t tell you the exact location it came from, but I can tell the scale came from the Basilisk’s forehead.”
Rosha leans in and examines the scale, “What gave it away?”
The clerk places the scale back in the case. “It is white. Basilisks have a white crown mark on their foreheads. King of serpents and all.
“As for the size? This scale comfortably fits on the tip of my pinky because a true Basilisk is actually only about as long as my foot, maybe a bit longer. Quite small, all things considered. What makes them the king, is their venom. Though I guess more appropriately, they are the king of venomous snakes. Constrictors have their own hierarchy, seeing as the two sides follow their own paths.
“Anyway, the Basilisk’s venom is so poisonous, even light that passes through said venom will poison you. Which is actually where their ‘gaze’ attack comes from. The Basilisk’s nictitating membrane, that second eyelid they have, is actually connected to their venom sack.
“It is actually quite interesting as most snakes don’t have eye shine, like a cat or similar. However, a few species of snake have a limited eye shine, with the Basilisk going in the complete opposite direction! Their ‘eye shine’ is so great that their vision is partially restricted. In exchange, the reflected light travels through the venom and will poison those its gaze lands upon.”
Rosha, “Huh, that is an interesting adaptation. So it isn’t technically a gaze attack?”
The clerk smiles, “Which really gives people a nasty shock if they didn’t do proper research. No amount of protection against gaze attacks will help you. You’re better off with poison resistance.”
Rosha, “Okay, now back to the size thing.”
The clerk shrugs, “Easy enough to explain. A pure Basilisk is small because it doesn’t need size. Most Basilisks you’ll see are actually the result of Draconic bloodlines. After all, Dragons grow throughout their entire lives and even a trace of their bloodline in a Basilisk encourages a similar thing.
“Now, the reason I suggest you sell this scale is not because it is from a Basilisk. Though that isn’t a bad reason to do so. No, I suggest this because it is a scale from a Basilisk’s crown mark.
“That crown is an obvious symbol of royalty from a beast known as the king of their kind. Once I get the word out that we have this comp? We’ll have royal families from kingdoms all around us asking for it. I expect it would sell for a good 20 to 30k gold pieces. Though that’s just the gold. You’ll likely get some benefits.”
Rosha snorts, “A pittance compared to what you’ll get.”
The clerk shrugs, “More than you would get if you tried to sell or auction it off yourself. The kingdoms wouldn’t give you the time of day.”
Rosha, “Well, yeah, fair enough. Neither of us is important enough. Only Kel has the pull to do anything with this and that’s not even because of how good of an accessory crafter he is. It is entirely because he has taught so many noble kids like you.”
The clerk smirks, “Connections make the world go round.”
Rosha, “And it isn’t like we have a choice on this. It is either this or the crafting ‘fails’ and we get nothing. Royalty are quite particular. The crown mark from the king of serpents? They aren’t going to let us have that because we are nowhere near strong enough, especially when it doesn’t have any dragon blood. Which I assume has some very important connotations.”
The clerk shrugs, “I won’t deny that is quite possible.”
Rosha squints at him, “My world had kings decide a particular shade of purple were ‘royal purple’. Yeah, regular people weren’t allowed to even touch that shade of purple.”
The clerk sighs, “I’m surprised that kind of thing hasn’t happened in NeoRealm before. There have been kingdoms who made certain monsters royal property, but that didn’t extend beyond their borders.”
Courtney faux coughs, “If I had to guess, the color thing is because cantrips can temporarily color clothes just about any shade. Tyrian purple was hyper-expensive because at the time, the only way to dye clothes that shade was with an absurd amount of predatory sea snails.”
The clerk laughs, “Sea snails? Purple from sea snails?”
Courtney shrugs, “Natural dyes come from the oddest of places.”
Rosha, “Anyway, I can authorize the scale to be sold instead of crafted. Though we’ll have to get down to the details of what this will mean. In particular, I want more effort put towards at least a few of the other components that will be used here. Not receiving an accessory wouldn’t be out of line, but having at least one success would be better.”
The clerk folds his hands in front of him, “There is no way to assure a successful craft, even of components we know how to handle. Admittedly, we have a much higher success rate on them, but still. The bottom line is that the System does not want this to be easy, so it won’t be.”
Rosha shrugs, “I’m not asking for Kel to personally craft them for us. Though it wouldn’t entirely be out of line. A scale from the king of snakes? That is likely going to end up making a high-power anti-poison accessory. Which is highly valued by any noble, let alone royalty.
“But I’m not asking for him to personally craft for us. I am simply saying that maybe some seniors should handle a couple of our components instead of others.”