Turtlez HQ

A trading post and storage facility used by the Turtlez, from the forests of Barona.

Physical Description
Deep within the woods in Windor lies the Turtlez HQ. It is a rather inaccessible place; it's part of the Turtlez Totz' training to find the HQ to begin their journey as a merchant, thus it's rather isolated. The advantage of this is that there is no presence of monsters here at all. The HQ is their base of operations - everything that is sold by them passes through here and is sent on its way. The HQ consists of a clearing, usually lined with tortoise, with its respective Turtlez either collecting stock or discussing latest trends with one another. That's it, really. There are a few permanent staff who remain at the HQ along with the Bozz; the rest come and go.

At the end of the clearing, past the tortoise, is their storehouse, where you'll usually find the Bozz, as well as most of their stock. Behind the clearing is a slow descent to an embankment with a stream; sometimes, tortoises are taken down here to relax and unwind.

Not much is known about the headquarters beyond its recent history; not when it was established nor founded. Goods come through and then leave. The rarer items stay solely at the HQ, waiting for someone with the right price to purchase them. The only thing that can really be said about the HQ is the Turtlez credibility. It is clear that the Turtlez have been a long present race on Ephinea and have established themselves as trusted merchants for generations. Much of the population relies on them for items and also to be transported, especially in times when the monster population is on edge. Beyond this, very little is known about the Turtlez themselves, either.

The Turtlez
Most of the Turtlez at the HQ are adults. The Turtlez Totz, their young, do the same job as them, but it's not until they are old enough to find the coordinates of the headquarters in the out-of-the-way part of the forest that they are deemed eligible to begin their training. There may be one or two Turtlez Totz at any given time, but typically there will just be the Turtlez. Families are rather loose and operate the same as, well, turtles, basically - mothers leave their young on beaches until they are old enough, and then they come back to find them. They do have parents, but there is more a sense of community over strict family.

The Turtlez are a merchant race, and as this is their headquarters, there is a lot of import and exporting going on. They take, store and sell just about anything - healing items, from apple gels to potions to herbs, or weaponry itself, from swords to axes to bows to more rarer combinations. They gather anything they can get their hands on that they can trade. It is common lore in Ephinea that everything of value makes it way through the HQ at least once. The Turtlez are excellent at knowing where in Ephinea needs more stock of certain things and where needs less. The Turtlez sell their wares at competitive prices, by which, it will probably be the same as other shops that sell the same thing. Part of their code is not to create a monopoly on certain goods.

Most of the time they will send out said stock with an individual to different corners of Ephinea, though they will happily sell from their headquarters, as well. As they adjust to the Havens, this service will be replicated. Whilst at first they may only have the basics, they will soon gather from shops created by player characters and take them all over the Havens on their travels. They're rather efficient that way.

The Turtlez operate Turtlez Transport all over Ephinea. A lot of their tortoises can be found at the HQ, when their owners come along to pick up more goods. That said, the Turtlez Transport is part of how they make their money. Users board a carriage on the tortoises' back and make their way to a predetermined destination - the further the distance, the more money paid, but longer distances may mean that the Turtlez in question will consider a discount. The method is slow, but not entirely cumbersome - if you don't want to use a chocobo or walk, it is certainly faster. The Turtlez will take anyone, child or adult, whatever race you may be, unless they have a specific reason to dislike or fear you as a person.

Thanks to the Turtlez being an adaptive race, this is now available all over the Havens. Just ask the nearest Turtlez for a lift rather than their merchant services!

Dark Turtlez
Occcasionally, instead of coming across one of the usual Turtlez, you may come across the self proclaimed "Dark Turtlez". This guy has a real bee in his bonnet due to the fact he looks different from the others and has supposedly, been touched by darkness. He specialises in smuggling things around to places that otherwise wouldn't be accessible, amongst other things. He's the guy to see if you're planning something risky. Don't upset him, though.

Risks
Nothing. There are no monsters. This is a very quiet, laid back, out of the way place. In game you can only access it via the airship, and it is not often visited. Here, it will remain deep in the forest in seclusion, similarly.

... The only danger is if the Bozz decides the item you are after has gone up one hundred times in price since the day before. Sorry about that.