Merchants Picking Up Dropped Items

[Sajan]

It was a warm, dry evening in West Freeport when I arrived for the first time after a long journey across the Ocean of Tears. My Dwarven Paladin buddy, Malast and I scraped together enough hard-earned platinum to convince a more experienced traveler to escort us from the Greater Faydark to the unknown continent of Antonica. We planned to meet up with a Dark Elven Shadow Knight they called Krios in East Commonlands. The city of Freeport was bustling and exciting, almost intimidating for two new explorers unfamiliar with the area.

We finally made our way through the brick maze to the front gate to set off on our journey, but I noticed something a bit out of place. A large Ogre was peddling some kind of snacks out of a rickety cart in the middle of a Human city! My curiosity got the best of me even though I had no more coin to my name, so I decided to investigate. I approached the cart cautiously as the Ogre judged me amiably. "What would I like my tombstone to say?" I thought to myself. The Ogre opened a bag full of jars containing some kind of pickle-shaped edible inside.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

"Hullo!! Me is Boomba. Me make da bestest pickles in da Norrath. Me gots da dwarfies, da halflings, da humies - me even gots da da pixie pickles!! Of course all of dem were baddies from da dunjuns. Da guards say it gud ta pickle da baddies!" he exclaimed. I turned to Malast who stared up at the towering Ogre, wide-eyed and trembling from head to toe. We both locked eyes with each other and almost as if we were connected mentally like some sort of Magician and an elemental, we both bolted!

I heard the Ogre mumble something about, "finding a nice shiney ting on da ground," but I paid it no mind. The moment we cleared the gate we both slowed down, our chests heaving, gasping for air. That's the moment I realized I was about four and a half stones lighter than I was before. I looked down and sure enough, I had mistakenly dropped my Dwarven Ringmail Tunic on the ground in fear as I escaped the horror.

It finally dawned on me the moment we met with Krios in the East Commonlands what Boomba was mumbling about. He had picked up my tunic and decided to sell it as his own! I decided to cut my losses since it looked like the Ogre would wipe the floor with me. That's when Krios mentioned something about a Reserve Militia Tunic as we headed off into the Commonlands, but my mind drifted, thinking about the adventure that awarded me my beloved tunic.

TLDR: I fondly remember dropping an item on the ground in classic around a merchant and they would pick it up instantly. I briefly attempted to find proof of this, but I'm having a hard time. Does anyone else remember this being a thing?