One day after the Jousting Arena went live, Thornfeld opens its second public square: a consignment yard where players can sell animals to each other. Rare DNA lines finally have a market.
The Livestock Yard
- Harlan the Auctioneer — new NPC near the town center, running 8 numbered pens along a browsing board.
- List your animals by walking them up on the halter and saying sell <price> (100-1,000,000 gp). Harlan quotes the fee, you confirm, and the pet goes straight into a pen.
- 5% listing fee upfront, non-refundable. 10% bailiff tax on the final sale price. The rest is deposited straight to your bank.
- 2 active listings per player — enough to move inventory, small enough to keep rare genetics scarce.
- Listed animals freeze in time — feed, water, age, pregnancy, and milk / shear cooldowns all pause. Buyers receive the exact snapshot captured at listing time.
- Pregnant animals can be listed — the new owner inherits the pregnancy (timer resumes on purchase).
The Browse Board
- Drawing board next to Harlan — click it to open a window listing every animal currently on the block.
- Filter by species (horses, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs, bulls, black sheep) and sort by pen number, price, or age.
- Each entry shows the animal's sprite, tag, sex, species, age, price, seller, pen number, and time left before it moves to storage.
- Rare genetics flags — DNA 7+ in any stat shows a green highlight. Pregnant animals flag pink, sick animals flag red.
- Inspect button opens the full DNA card — the same window you see on your own animals. No secrets: buyers see everything before paying.
Buying
- Pick a pen from the board, walk to Harlan, say buy <pen> and confirm. The animal is handed to you on the halter.
- Gold is pulled from your pockets first; the bank covers any shortfall.
- Your max-pet cap applies — you can't buy if your ranch is already full.
Storage & Notifications
- 24-hour pens — if no one buys in that window, the animal moves to Harlan's stable (storage) and the pen frees up for another listing.
- Storage is indefinite. Say claim to see a numbered list of your stored animals, then claim <N> to take one back. No fees.
- Sold while offline? Gold goes straight to your bank. The next time you log in, Harlan's clerk sends a message telling you what sold and for how much.
- Change your mind? Say retrieve <pen> to withdraw your own listing. The 5% fee is not refunded — that's the cost of holding a pen.
Achievements
- Farmer's Market (Grade 1, 1 pt) — your first sale at the Yard.
- Cattle Baron (Grade 2, 5 pts) — 50 sales completed.
- Discerning Buyer (Grade 1, 1 pt) — your first purchase at the Yard.
- Cattle Connoisseur (Grade 2, 5 pts) — 50 purchases completed.
Under the Hood
- Pet DNA card now publicly visible for any animal currently listed at the Yard — so buyers can inspect before bidding (private again once the animal goes to storage or is taken home).
- New extended opcode (216) powers the board UI; inspecting reuses the existing pet-info window to keep things consistent.
- Full walkthrough of the system is live in the in-game Cyclopedia → Ranching tab and on the Wiki.
Build a pedigree, cash out the rest. Harlan is waiting.