The Forced Auction

The air in the main market square grows tense as a procession of Blackjackets parts the crowd. A massive, ornate cage sits on a wooden platform. Inside, a beautiful, weeping dryad is chained to a stake. Her wooden skin is cracked and dry, and her leaves are falling off rapidly. A Kalistocrat auctioneer, dressed in pristine white, steps forward with a golden gavel.

"My fellow investors! I present this... exceptional asset. A dryad captured from the northern groves. She is bound to an ancient tree, which means if you purchase her, you gain control of a vital stream of magical water and a piece of the forest itself! The starting price is one thousand gold. Do I hear a bid?"

The crowd is a mix of greedy merchants and horrified townsfolk. The dryad looks out, her eyes pleading, not for rescue, but for a quick death. To stop the auction would mean openly defying the Kalistocratic law, and the Blackjackets are already circling.