begintalkscript;
variables;
short choice,i;

begintalknode 1;
	state = -1;
	nextstate = 1;
	question = "Merchant";
	text1 = "_Hello there, Master Bard!_ You nearly jump out of your skin when the man calls out to you. You would have been content to slink past and go your seperate ways without exchanging niceties, but apparently the man wants to chat.";
	text2 = "At this point it couldn't hurt to say hello; if he means ill he can rob you either way. If he doesn't, there's no point in snubbing him and possibly sparking a conflict. He seems friendly, but you remain alert and ready to hightail it at any notice.";
	
begintalknode 2;
	state = 1;
	nextstate = 2;
	question = "Hello yourself, stranger. What are you doing out here.";
	text1 = "_I'm waiting._";
	
begintalknode 3;
	state = 2;
	nextstate = 3;
	question = "What for?";
	text1 = "_No reason in particular. Here seemed like as nice a place to wait as There, and There is so far away._ He chuckles, and you smile along, even though you aren't sure why he finds loitering to be so amusing.";
	
begintalknode 4;
	state = 3;
	nextstate = 4;
	question = "And where might 'There' be?";
	text1 = "He completely ignores your question, instead posing one of his own. _And what about you? Why do you travel the Gray Road at this hour, and why the long face?_ You find yourself answering before you even realise what just happened.";

begintalknode 5;
	state = 4;
	nextstate = 5;
	question = "I'm headed to Cigosal, where I plan to get chewed out for having a bad act.";
	text1 = "_No new material, eh? That's a shame, and there's not a whole lot you can do when you've got no time and no inspiration. It's funny you should mention it though, because I was just thinking about how a story I heard tonight deserved its own song._";
	text2 = "You aren't particularly interested in hearing this crackpot's story; every fool you come across has some story that they think is worth spreading-- and very few of them are actually correct.";
	text3 = "You decide to be polite, though. An ill-mannered bard is soon an unemployed bard, and a traveller who's impolite to unstable strangers is soon a knifed traveller.";
	
begintalknode 6;
	state = 5;
	nextstate = 6;
	question = "Oh? And what story is that?";
	text1 = "_It isn't my tale to tell, Master Bard. I haven't the time nor the talent._ He points to the west, _Head to the Tabard Inn if you want to hear it in full._";
	text2 = "With that he hoists his sack over his back and heads off.";
	
begintalknode 7;
	state = 6;
	nextstate = -1;
	question = "Wait-- where are you talking about? Where are you going?";
	text1 = "_I've done enough waiting for now,_ he shouts back over his shoulder as he trudges away. _If you want to hear a tale that will impress even your Lord Aridan, then the Tabard is your spot. You won't regret it._";
	text2 = "The broad-shouldered man, bent low under the weight of the lumpy sack, fades away into the shadows. How thoroughly peculiar.";
	code =
	erase_char(6);
	set_flag(32,3,2);
	end();
	break;
	