The Sun Also Rises

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Hot.

This singular word described the sun, so worshiped by her former clan, beaming down on the glassy sands of the endless desert. Iskra trudged along the soft ground, her blue eyes meeting only more and more sand as far as their vision stretched. The heat didn't bother her, however. A bit of magic channeled through her body ensured that her core temperature remained relatively low.

She knew exactly what it was she hoped to find. As far as land went, the desert was relatively small. If she had powers of estimation and could count that high, she might have thought it was about a hundred and twenty five square miles, but as thing were, she only knew that the desert wasn't as big as the forests she came from, and if she dedicated a bit of time to searching she'd no doubt come across some sign of the man she sought.

So with a patience as vast and enduring as the desert she walked across, the demon searched. Water was a secondary concern, as was food. A technique she'd recently learned kept hunger away for a long while, and she was quite satisfied with its effects. Use of the strange new ability was much easier work than hunting itself, though it was far less interesting.

After some time, though, even the hyena-come-woman required a rest, and so she sat down, resting in the shade of a particularly large rock.

[ EXP: 269 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Like a river, it flowed. Not rapidly, just, without an end in sight. Trickling down, bit by bit, the sweat that fell down the base of the man’s neck made a noticeable, wide reaching stain on the rear of his shirt. This was of course natural, for one who lived within the desert. You would become accustomed to it very rapidly, but no amount of adjusting would prevent the large amount of perspiration one would experience upon spending time in the valleys of the sun’s rays. The sheer amount of weight lost due to sweating was outrageous, whether or not you exerted any actual physical force. But, were you to actually do some such action that required the usage of muscle and energy, you would likely end up thin and lanky. Thus, you would find yourself in a similar boat to the aforementioned sweaty man, who spent his days either entirely travelling via camel-drawn carriage, or lifting and bartering over goods in local markets. It was due to a life like that, that the man, Rashn, found himself settling in amidst the fairly crowded streets of a small market village.

Talk and gossip rose through the streets, but no such indication of caring was made by the man who solemnly lead his duo of camels through the beaten sandy paths of the village’s outer roads. There were few walls or structures protecting it from the outside. Realistically, it was as if some people just set up a few dozen tents alongside one of the desert highways to and fro some of the larger cities and decided to do trade there. The specifics themselves were not a matter of concern to the auburn haired merchant: he was more interested in the wares than the whys. Haha, merchant humor…

Commanding his camels to stop with a simple whip of the reins, he realized he really had no direct business here. He was on the way to another of the large cities, but upon coming across this place, he decided he would stop simply to browse, and see if there was anything in particular he saw that interested him. Odd, being that he was never one to window shop normally. Perhaps he was just supposed to sit here and wait for something? He figured not, both out of skepticism and out of the realization that the only thing one ever ‘waited for’ in the desert, was a sandstorm. And that, my friends, is one of the worst things in the entire world for a travelling merchant. Loss of time, health, and likely perfectly fine goods. Needless to say, nothing good came of sandstorms.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The woman had been sitting in the shade for some time before she noticed a small, moving dot on the horizon. Feasibly it could've been a mirage, but as it got closer it drew her complete focus and she noticed that it was a man on the back of a mule. The creature trudged ahead, weary, but the man had a purpose in his eyes that told Iskra that he knew where he was going.

Yet, the turbaned entity directed his mount to stop in the demon's shade so that he could regard her with curiosity and a glint of vague malevolence that she couldn't place.

"Are you lost, sweetie?"

Iskra leaned against the unyielding rock and casually observed that the traveler carried a curved blade. "Just walking. Do you know where the nearest human habitation is?"

He smiled. One of his teeth was black and seemed ready to fall out of his peanut-shaped skull. "Why yes. I happen to be going there. Just a little further in this line that I'm going in..." He lowered his head and his eyes darkened. "A market. Why don't you come with me, you pretty little thing? If you're good, then I'll--"

The settlement apparently rested just over the next dune. Iskra sat for a moment, regarding the place with her head tilted to the side. He might be there. She'd recognize the camels. Even if there were a sea of camels, beasts could tell other beasts apart.

Iskra burped. A spoiled tooth flew forth, embedding itself in the sand next to a similarly expelled patch of vomit-burned grey hair and a small fragment of a donkey's tailbone.

With that, she resumed her human form and strolled confidently into the town.

And things bustled hectically, but she continued, through the alarmingly condensed group of merchants shouting the virtues of their wares. The demon had to force herself to ignore the scenario. All wild creatures and spirits were imbued with hundreds of thousands of years of instincts, and prominent among these was a special sort of claustrophobia noticeably bred out of captive animals. A wolf nor a deer tarried long in a human settlement should one or two of their numbers appear. Brushing shoulders with so many entities of humankind would be unthinkable to a normal beast, and even Iskra, with her heightened knowledge of the dominant species found herself holding back, lest she devolve into running and shredding to get out.

In time, however, she noticed a familiar merchant tent. Indeed, almost all of the tents looked distinctive, as they'd been scavenged and crafted from different bits of vehicle, plastic, beast, wood, and fibers with various manners of propulsion.

This distinctive tent, however, seemed an oasis of familiarity in the mildly perplexing crowd, and she crawled into it without much hesitancy or without asking for the slightest bit of permission.

[ EXP: 561 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

The man, opting to avoid any excess danger by waiting around doing nothing, decided it was time to either make use of the establishment, or get the ‘hell out of dodge’. With a simple tug of the reins, he figured he would head back to his settlement just a short distance away, settle his camels in and give them their feed and water, and go out and look for anything that would resemble a blacksmith. It had dawned on him that he hadn’t procured a new dagger or knife since he pawned off his old one, and without any real weaponry to speak of, he couldn’t use his fancy self-defense techniques he had ‘trained’ with so much. The desert was full of dangers, of nature, man, and beast, and without a way to defend himself, he would never feel adequately safeguarded. So, with that thought in mind, he directed his camels through the outer pathways towards his tent, which, he assumed, was as empty as he left it: only a few strewn about cloth rags for a makeshift bed, a fairly-hard pillow, and a barrel of personal water.

Jumping down from the perch he directed his camels from, he would hold firmly onto the reins, but walk in front of them now. Camels were fairly intelligent creatures, as far as he was concerned, but they weren’t too good at moving with finesse through tight/crowded areas. This was unfortunate, as for whatever reason the area around his setup was fairly dense in merchant population at the moment. It was odd, but it mattered not. More popularity for him was good, and so with a gentle yet firm grasp over his ‘trusty steeds’, he would guide them through the mass of people, to the front of his tent. Lifting the outer flaps, he would bow his head in and pull tightly, luring the beasts in behind him. His eyes settled on them as he moved them inside, and it was not until they were halfway finished, that he turned to notice that his camp was occupied. With a plain, vaguely confused look, he would pause for a moment before regarding the female trespasser with an obviously unamused tone. “…What the hell are you doing here?” How the hell did she find him, anyway?

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

"Fate."

Originally, perhaps she might have mentioned something about the apparent disrespect in his tone, but as things were, she was somewhat tired from all of her searching and she paused in going to greet him only long enough to pull some water from a nearby barrel towards her mouth for a drink.

"I've been looking around here for a few weeks... well, after I left hell at least." Her manner was casual as she stepped around the bits of cloth scattered around towards Nori. In this form she had "pockets", and she searched around the inside of her overcoat for something as she approached. "I think I owe you something for your kindness."

At length, she found what she was looking for and pulled them forth. They were five unusually large leaves. Though they'd been detached from the mystic, live plant that they'd been attached to, they still twitched a bit, as though living themselves.

"There was this two-story plant I fought with my new clan members. It tried to poison us and eat us, but we killed it. These leaves from it are good for assassination, and I imagine they're pretty hard to come across. I want you to have them."

She smiled and held the leaves towards the merchant, hoping that he'd like the gift. "It was the least I could do."

[ EXP: 255 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

“I don’t believe in fate,” the man said, raising an eyebrow quizzically as he stretched his hand to take from the woman her gift. He was rather confused; mystic plant? What the hell was that? And it tried to eat her? Rashn had heard of plants that ate bugs and possibly small creatures, but never a human being. Did they grow that big? Scary. Luckily plants like that didn’t really grow in the desert. That did not, however, stop him from being interested in the leaves he was given. According to what she said, they killed people? What, did they spring to life and suffocate them? As that was rather unlikely, he assumed it had something to do with cooking them, be it in tea form, or perhaps baked into a grain like a bread or something. “And you don’t owe me for my ‘kindness’, you owe me for the excess meat you ate. I’m not the kind of person to charge someone for a favor. Any kindness you received was done without any desire for anything in return.”

He considered, for a moment, pointing out that these leaves were nearly worthless to him. Regardless of their uses – of which he was sure were numerous – something like that was essentially black market goods, which were things he did not deal in. Assassinating was a dirty business, and once you stuck your nose into the depths of the merchant businesses’ shadier dealings, there was no leaving. If you made your name known to them, there was no way you would ever be forgotten. This was one of the first lessons he had learnt in his apprenticeship. As such, these leaves, though rare and likely expensive, were something he could not sell. This meant, in his hands, they were worthless. They’d be worth less than a roll of twine.

But, there was a way. Not a very good one, no, but… a way existed, nonetheless. There were those who were so desperate to make a living, they lived on the outskirts of the shady black market. They would buy and sell all the black market goods, while also dealing with those who rode the lighter side in secret. Rashn could, he noted, locate one of those people and sell the leaves to them, thus not ever really putting his name into the black market itself. This was not guaranteed to work, however, as it brought up two problems: number one, how would he locate one of these men, and number two, how was he sure they wouldn’t give his name and face to one of the men actually IN the black market? It was due to all these troubles he really had no reason to even want the leaves to be in his possession, as they were likely illegal anyway. She seemed to be giving them away, though… and he wasn’t one to turn down a gift like that. It’d likely compensate for the lost meat ten times over if he could sell it… though this was likely not to be so simple. His senses as a merchant told him to be weary. The woman was, most likely, after something of her own. “What do you want, anyway? You clearly had more of a reason to seek me out than to give me this. What’re you after? You’re not hungry again, are you?” It was a saying after all, that if you feed a dog or cat once, it’ll find you later looking for more.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The merchant appeared hesitant to take her offer, but she suspected that was due to the natural suspicion he'd shown her ever since she'd demonstrated her demonic nature to him. Rather, it seemed to be a trust issue, and it would take awhile to get him to see her point of view from the way things were going thus far. At the end of it all, however, he accepted her gift, and she presumed his friendship, but she still found his sour attitude a bit of a hangup.

So, she simply resolved to show him a more demanding side. He was only a human, after all. While the mutual benefit model worked nicely enough, in the end she felt she was better at the "these are my teeth, so this is my stuff" method.

"Nothing much," she said, unassumingly. "I've got a building out in the forests, and it needs a bit of fixing up, which means supplies and stuff. It's going to be a place we sell your weakish human women at the end of it all. I'm going to become wealthy."

She folded her arms, her blue gaze looking into the merchant's face. "Of course, I'd need to have a good merchant when the time came to furnish and repair the spot, you know?"

[ EXP: 230 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

So, she was… offering him a job? This was most unexpected. It’s every merchant’s dream to own an actual shop. Become ‘syndicated’, so to speak. It’s a total step up from the life of a travelling peddler, who can’t really ever even start a family or get married. Even Rashn, in all of his skepticism, pessimism and general overall apathy and untrusting nature, knew what a good deal it was. Even for someone like him, it was a goal to get an actual shop from which he could buy and sell. But, the part that came prior to that upset him. Selling women? He had steered away from that his entire merchant life. Whores were a pain in the ass. They required clothing, food, and lodge. And, on top of all that, unlike most things they had a tendency to run away. Oh, and on top of all that it was unethical. Yeah, that was important too. Kind of. Less so in the face of everything else, but still relatively worth mentioning.

Rashn would take a moment and step back to the carriage, tossing the ‘contraband’ leaves in with some of the other miscellaneous items stored in a small box near the front. Most of its contents were tools or personal items, and it was rare anyone would even ask to check that box. He figured, for the moment, it would be safe to leave it there. Going back to the woman, he would note that it DID make sense: she had seemed to have little real knowledge of actual business, and he had shown her his finesse in the matter. However, amidst this situation, he could not shake how defiant the woman had become. While she was still rather firm and such when they met the first time, it was as if she was her as an actual merchant. Her all-business demeanor was rather surprising to Rashn, though when it came to business matters like that, it would take more than just a firm stance and a serious tone to do him in. “Let me make sure I understand you. Are you offering me a business deal here? You want me to sell your woman for you…”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The demon shook her head. "No no no, you misunderstand."

She'd said it the first time, but perhaps she hadn't been clear. After all, the concept of "prostitution" tended to stick out more than the concept of "wood, bricks, and glass". She needed to attend to more practical matters before she even got to the obstacle of gathering and selling the women.

"I mean as in, right now all I have is a building. I have to gather workers from... somewhere. I'll probably just have to beat a few demons into submission, but when I do we're going to need... Oh, what do you humans make things out of? Rocks? Trees? Yes, wood and stone and... whatever you use to stick it together with. If you want, once we've gotten the ball rolling you can carry... a few pages with pictures on them to maybe show to people, but that's in the future." She waved her hand as if beating off some offending gnats. "For now, I simply want you as..." The word "staff" was one that escaped her, so she simply said the closest thing in her mind, "...a personal merchant. You could still wander around as you do, of course. Wander away, but when I call you, you'd need to answer."

[ EXP: 232 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

The ‘personal’ in the term ‘personal merchant’ was something Rashn was not too happy with. He wanted nothing to do with being her personal pet, and he wouldn’t allow himself to be forced into her employment. But by the way things sounded, she just wanted him to be something of a gopher/front-man for her. Like she wanted him to do the actual peddling and selling, but also to fetch things for her, perhaps. This wasn’t anything he didn’t already do for several people and organizations, so there was no reason for him to refuse this. It was likely this would turn into a fair amount of profit for him, so going ahead with it was the obvious best option here. The little matter about selling whores was still something he wasn’t happy about, but those specifics could be ironed out at a later date. They were no reason for him to refuse.

“Well, we’d have to talk pay,” he began, “but sure. I don’t see why not.” If it ever ended up being a problem that interfered with him in the future, he could always just quit. Though, this raised the question of if that was all she really wanted? He imagined it was something of an affair to track him down, and he wondered why she would waste all that time just for a question she was in no clear rush to have answered if she didn’t even have her shop set up yet. “Is that all?” he would ask, more than anything looking to be rid of company and get back to shopping. “I’ve got to go find a blacksmith for something personal, so…”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra grinned toothily when Nori agreed to the arrangement, in a way. There remained the small matter of payment. "Well, since your generosity was out of the kindness of your heart, I'd say those leaves are my upfront uhh... cahpital.... or down's payment or whatever it's called. It's a sign of good faith. Believe me, when the money from this comes rolling in, you will be rolling in nice things."

The question seemed settled. Honestly, she only tracked him down because she considered him a part of her far-flung clan, regardless of whether or not the feelings were reciprocal. As a hyena, and a female one at that, existence was absolutely insufferable without a clan to come back to, and out of that psychological need she'd bonded with a merchant, a soldier, and a demon. Males, because those were the easiest for her to relate to and she didn't feel the need to compete with them.

"A blacksmith?"

The word sounded intriguing, but she couldn't make sense of it. Black. Smith. Since it began with "black", she assumed it had something to do with the dark arts, which intrigued her. "Maybe I should see him too. I'm always trying to learn new magic."

[ EXP: 234 || 5th post ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

“Magic?” this word in particular caught Rashn’s attention as he turned back to the woman. It wasn’t the first time he had heard of magic, or people ‘learning it’, but it was such a rare thing that he never really took it seriously. Sure, he had seen it performed once or twice, yet that never really made him familiar with it. Did this woman also practice it, like those crazy old fool ‘wizards’ he had met a long time ago? Most of the time, people who said they could control it were either lying, or overestimating themselves. Either way it didn’t matter, as magic itself couldn’t make him any money, so he didn’t particularly care about it. “No, you’ve got it all wrong. It’s not like that.” He would wonder to himself if he was talking to a brick wall over here. Perhaps the wall would be more perceptive? It was a wonder she wanted to run a shop if she never even heard of something as commonplace as a blacksmith before. “Blacksmiths are people who work with metals. They can create… weapons.” Rashn decided weapons would be the simplest of things to say, as he doubted she would understand their role if he mentioned the other things they would make, such as plates or tools. “Like a spearhead, or a sword. Things like that.” Something like that would probably be simple enough for her to understand.

“Anyway, if you need any weapons or anything like that, then you should see the blacksmith too.” Not that he knew where one was located in this area, anyway. Though, he wondered what kind of weapon a hyena would use. Fake teeth? Fillings for any snapped or broken claws, or the like? The smith could likely perform either of those, though it’d have to be a custom order most likely, which meant it was expensive. Rashn still needed to think of a good plan for the leaves he was given, but that was for another time really. “Say,” he began, deciding there would be no harm in asking his question aloud. “Can you even use human weaponry?” His voice was, naturally, hushed somewhat, so as not to let the people crowding around outside overhear any of their conversation. Last thing he needed was to arouse any unwanted attention.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

She smiled at his attention to the word "magic". He wasn't a special human like Lethe or a demon like Jack, so of course his knowledge of the arcane might be limited. It helped along that assumption when he told her that a blacksmith made weapons.

"I can..." she said slowly. She had a bone spear from days long past... the father of her friend. For some reason she'd kept it, thinking that it might be valuable in the future, but she'd never learned to use it. "I'm better at magic, though."

The demon grinned in his face, a devilish idea suddenly occurring to her. "Hey! I can show you a trick!"

If it was enough to shock Lethe, no doubt it'd be enough to impress the simple merchant.

"First of all, nothing in my sleeves..." the woman demonstrated, still grinning, by pulling each of the said sleeves to show that they were, in fact, empty. "Nothing in my hands." She held out both palms. "Now, we say the magical words." She growled out a few syllables. "And like that!"

Her hand moved suddenly, as though she planned to strike the merchant, but she didn't. It was simply a projection of her magical influence that would, in short order, transform him into a female of some description.

Hardly had she gotten that spell out than she suddenly shifted herself into a completely different person: a man in fact. "As you humans say... Ta da!"

[ EXP: 275 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

With the light burst of magic pouring through him, Rashn would flinch, though more due to the sudden aggressive movement of the woman than anything else. While he had no clue what had just happened, the surge of energy flowing through him – being relatively unheard of for him – made him feel nauseous. He wondered if that was the entire purpose of the spell? Not very nice of her. Either way, it had something of a reaction among the camels, who made noises and stomped around lightly like spooked cattle. Well, they say animals are more perceptive than humans, though Rashn thought that pertained mostly to a dog’s nose and a cat’s… whatever. Regardless, despite their reaction, he had no real idea what just happened. He would look at himself and notice no real changes. Despite the fact that his gender had temporarily been changed (which he had no real realization of), his still-flatchestedness and inability to see through his pants made it hard to notice. His features changed, of course, but without a mirror, he would not be able to see his thinned-out chin, his new curves in places-that-they-just-didn’t-belong, or the fact that his rear end was now particularly fabulous looking. To him, all she did was make him sick.

That was, of course, until her transformation followed suit. His eyes would open in relative shock, though more of a light surprise than anything. After seeing her shift from a humanoid to a beast right in front of his eyes, it wasn’t too startling to notice that she could change her form even further. Though it made him wonder, was she actually female? Was this her ACTUAL true form? She had spoken about having something similar to the male genitalia on her hyena form, so made she was just confused? Well… he imagined she knew about birthing children and all that, so she likely knew what she was talking about and would’ve known if she was actually a man, but then, why was she able to turn into a man? “Err… That’s cool, and all… I guess. But, just what’s the point of doing that?”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The man before the merchant laughed, his voice a dancing baritone as he took a few steps closer. "I don't think I've told you my goals in this life." Provided the sales...woman made no moves to get out of the way, and the tent didn't offer many places to run that weren't outside, he would come within inches of her face. "There is a number I can't count to. It's ten groups of ten plus eight groups of eight. That's the number of descendents I want." His manner became more affectionate, and taking advantage of his superior speed, especially in close settings like this, he'd pull the woman close if she didn't somehow evade and look into her eyes. "...but I can't do it alone."

In reality, his behavior was designed to scare the merchant in a small way, or at least make him aware of the odd change that had taken place. If he could get that flat, neutral, slightly-grouchy demeanor to crack just for a minute, it'd be mission accomplished and he could lay off, but for now it was a rather invasive hug he offered, one that involved a clasp of the newly plump buttcheeks. "I'll need a bit of help."

[ EXP: 222 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

As the woman – man – hyena – malefemalebeast – thing, approached with likely record breaking speed, Rashn would jump back slightly. Though, this would have no relative effect, due to the nature of his captor’s embrace. With the rapid movement of the male figure, and the hand placed on his rear used in conjunction with the other male’s words, hisher goal of cracking his facial features would be easily accomplished. Though… this was possibly not in the way Iskra had imagined, or wanted, as it was not a blushing, embarrassed moe-moe type face, but more of an ‘I’m-going-to-be-sick’ face. His head would shrink back, and general uncomfort would be had. He never liked people being too close to him, and this sexual rush – which was homoerotic in nature, at least to his knowledge – only made him even less happy with everything. Color would fade from face rapidly, and he would look away. “Y-Yeah… right. Couldn’t you bare children in your other form?”

He realized at this point that pregnancy might make it hard for her to live her daily life, so a male form would be more helpful, but it didn’t help him come to grasp with her desire to have that many children. Sure, that was essentially the goal of every race on the face of the planet, and Rashn somewhat understood that, but so many seemed unnecessary. He couldn’t even imagine how long he would have to work just to feed that many mouths for a day. It seemed like a waste of money… though, if he could manage for a dozen or so years, then when they would be old enough to work for themselves, they could take care of him in his old age. Not a bad thought, but still too much work for not that big of a pay off. Pushing that thought out of mind, he would barely be able to speak and retain his bodily fluids at the same time. “Alright… I get it, nevermind. Just… let me go before I get sick. I don’t like physical contact.”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Somehow, the demon found the human's discomfort absolutely wonderful, like some hidden pleasure in life that he hadn't come across thus far. Perhaps his chaotic nature fated him to constantly strive to torture human souls, or perhaps it was a form of social interaction, which she'd been relatively starved of lately.

"Before you get sick, my beautiful desert flower?" he continued on with a gentle smile surrounded by a significant density of bishie sparkles which stood in stark contrast to the fact that the man had gone from simply gripping her rear-flesh to gently molesting her. "We wouldn't want that. I'd simply have to nurse you back to health."

Alas, they had important things to be doing. The torture could continue later. "Perhaps you could bear my child some other time."

He licked his finger carnivorously, a hungry look in his eye before a sudden poof.

And just as suddenly the world was back to normal. Iskra was a spotty-haired, dark-skinned woman. Nori was a man. It was as though nothing had transpired. "I didn't really like my spear. I think I want to trade it in for something else."

[ EXP: 233 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

With everything happening so fast, and his private areas being outright fondled, it was no surprise to anyone at the rising vomit that nearly spewed from his mouth by the end of it all. Thankfully his hand was able to cover his mouth, though it was just as disgusting for him as he forced himself to swallow it all down a second time. Realistically, the woman could essentially kiss her business partner goodbye at this point, though Rashn was odd in that in the name of a profit, he could put up with near anything. This was, naturally, no exception, though he was even less ecstatic about the idea than he was prior. He really, really didn’t like this woman anymore. Or, man. Whatever. She had crossed the line one too many times, and he considered cutting all ties with her, but she had already made him a fair profit… though, with the extra meat she ate, it really wasn’t as much as it could’ve been. She was difficult to work with, and he never liked those radically outgoing people in the first place.

Fortunately, though, as his male form returned to him, and Iskra returned to her ‘normal’ state, he found himself feeling normal again. It was hard to shake off the mental aspects of it all, but at least physically, he was well once more. “I-I see…” he stuttered, still regaining his mentality. She wanted to trade in her spear? Didn’t she mention some sentimental value over it just a moment ago? What a weird person. “Well, I can help with that… I guess.” Perhaps if she owed him another favor, she would put off on sexually harassing him in the future? Not likely, but with his needs somewhat mirroring her own, there was not too much harm in it. Besides, it was another chance to make some money on the side. “If you provide the costs, I can get you a good deal. But, my price is 20% of whatever you make. Do we have a deal?” It was standard for him. He was often contracted by lesser-skilled merchants to do the bargaining for them, and that was his standard fare. If he didn’t treat it like that, then he wouldn’t make any money, now, would he?

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra squinted into Nori's eyes for a moment. She had little concept of fractions, perhaps because she wasn't completely sure about the definition of "percent". Sounded good enough, though. Twenty whatevers was a lot, but she could cross that bridge when she got to it.

After a minute of giving this odd look, however, she simply patted the knapsack by her side. "I don't really have much use for these things. A weapon would be much better. Any price I can come up with."

"So we have a deal, Seller."

[ EXP: 103 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

“Yeah, we have a deal.” Was the man’s monotonous response, finally recovering the last bit of his emotional control. Sexual harassment wasn’t funny. He wasn’t a prostitute! Such disrespect from today’s generation it was sickening. Back in his day, he… when he was her/his age, he… oh, nevermind. It’s unimportant. They were just lucky they could remember when they were babies. Rashn had no such luxury. Sucked, too. He would’ve loved to have had parents. But, that was just the way the hands were dealt, and he would live with it. Life wasn’t so bad: he was successful, so he couldn’t complain about that. The only thing he had to complain about was that with his life style, being successful meant having to deal with people like Iskra here. Weirdos. Freaks. People he would’ve been much happier just ignoring, but you gotta’ make your paper, so you just have to learn to deal with it without complaining.

Not like anyone would listen to him complain anyway.

Pushing outside the tent, Rashn would try to remember which way it was to the residing merchant officer who could tell him where the nearest blacksmith(s) for the road-side establishment were. Since the place was small, they didn’t have official boarding areas, so he had just stopped to set up shop wherever there was room. As such, he really didn’t actually go find that particular person… “Well, shit.” It was a silent curse, mostly to himself, but still semi-audible. The woman probably had enhanced hearing or something like that, being an animal and all, nut her hearing didn’t matter. In the end, he would just decide to ignore it and find the smith himself via the traditional method of wandering. Seemed to work before people had made such rules and systems as there currently were, so what was the harm of trying it for himself? He would likely know when they were close by the people gathering around, and by the smell of smelted ores and heavy amounts of burning charcoal. Unfortunately, it was still daytime, so many people were currently burning their fireplaces. This meant he didn’t have the option of going solely by plumes of smoke rising from the hut/houses. Oh well. Life was never easy. “C’mon, let’s go then.”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra smiled and followed the merchant quietly outside of his tent. He'd gone back to being straight faced, which she always found an odd quality about this particular human. Most of them were always doing all sorts of interesting things with their faces and intonations, but he was just... never excited about anything it seemed. Rather, his brief bout of extreme horror at what the demon did to him passed like clouds over the sands themselves... an exciting and nourishing event that quickly faded back to plain, slightly hostile monotony. Maybe with all the time that this man spent in the desert, its characteristics were starting to rub off on him. Lifelessness. Stinginess. Dryness. Did being like that make him happy?

The quiet curse of her current partner brought her out of her thoughts. "Alright," she answered simply, keeping pace with him through the assorted booths. "Say, do you know the name of that number by the way? I've always wanted to know it... ten groups of ten plus eight groups of eight. What is it called?"

[ EXP: 210 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Rashn, being one who dealt in money and general currency as a merchant, was fairly good at math. Basic math, at least. Percentages, multiplying, dividing. That was about how far it went for him, though not much else had really been rediscovered since the Dawn, it was more than enough to get by. Pre-Dawn it probably barely qualified him for a Middle-School-esque level education, but Post-Dawn, it made him a scholar of sorts. So, yes, he could likely give her the number she wanted, if she had a normal way of asking the question. He originally was going to answer something along the lines of ‘too many for me to bare with you, so you’ll need to find somebody else’, but decided to just answer the question honestly. The odd wording would not help, though, but he could still try to make an accurate guess. He assumed she was talking as if having ten separate litters with ten in each, and then another eight litters with eight more. Or was she trying to multiply? As in, ten litters of ten, and then eight litters of eight for each individual child? Either way it was far too many for his liking. “Well, ten litters of ten would be a hundred. Eight litters of eight would be sixty four. That means you’d want one hundred and sixty four children. Good luck feeding all of those, or finding a man with a sexual libido to fulfill that. He’d have to be nothing short of God’s Gift to Women himself if he were to even want to attempt such a feat. Sounds like one hell of an amazing man to me.” Haha, jokes were funny.

As for the more important matter of finding the smithy, Rashn would notice that the darkest plumes of smoke were coming from the center road. As such, that was where he would naturally have to check out first. Hopefully they would get lucky and it would be just what they were looking for. The man wondered, however, just what the woman would even want. She said she could use human weapons, and she even had a spear to trade in. But, did she know what she was looking for her? “What are you hoping to get when we find the blacksmith? Did you have anything specific in mind?” Rashn’s money was on those steel handclaws he had seen a while back.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

One hundred and sixty four. So that was her magic number. She found it a great comfort to have a tangible goal... one that she could now name. One hundred and sixty four descendents. Surely that number was larger than the count of the stars in the sky.

"Oh, I was going to just use men at first, but my friend told me they cannot bear children, so that means that I have to impregnate women. That's why I learned to turn into a male human. I'll let the women worry about feeding them, but if I have a large territory, then it won't be such a big deal to ensure that they're raised in relative prosperity. I remember when I was just a little cub living near the southern woods we had a number that I think was larger than that living on the land. There were ten groups of nine and ten groups of eight in my family back then... aunts, cousins, uncles..."

She smiled, fondly recalling a simpler time in her life when she had so many others to socialize with. It was by far more idyllic than the hungry, lonely present.

Until the merchant's question once again brought her out of her thoughts. "I'm not sure, actually. I want something... free and wild and that can inflict a lot of hurt. Probably something that can crush bones like my teeth."

[ EXP: 251 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

“That… makes sense.” Rashn would note dully, somewhat surprised at the words coming out of his own mouth right there. So, she had common sense. He figured she did, it was just she had not yet shown it. That was good! At least he could rely on that to some degree in the future. Hopefully. When she wanted to, she could think clearly and logically… wait, wait, wait. If she turned into a man where did she get… ‘that stuff’ from. Sperm, was it? Rashn figured that was what it was called. Whatever. The thing that men had that women didn’t that made babies in the woman’s stomach. That stuff. How the hell was she going to produce that?... Did hyenas do that automatically, even as a female? No, it was probably more magic bullshit. That didn’t make a lick of sense, but if it didn’t work, he was sure she’d find another way to make her goals a reality. People who were strong-willed like her annoyed him, but they were still very impressive in their abilities to reach their goals despite adversity. He wished he had that sort of headstrong nature. Would’ve helped when he was just a novice with all this merchant business.

“Maces can crush bone fairly easy. A big enough sword can do the same.” These were just offhand suggestions in reality. He doubted she really knew what a mace or sword was by name, but it was possible. “Y’know,” he began, trying to actually be helpful outright for once. “You might consider something else. If your teeth can smash bone already, why not look for something to do what you cannot already do? Like… attack from afar?” He says this, mostly due to his lack of knowledge as to how far the woman’s proficiency with magic really spread. It seemed logical to him, though he was mostly talking about something like a throwing star, or the like.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra folded her arms and shook her spotty-maned head. "No, no, maces and heavy swords can crush bones, but they aren't free. They're inferior versions of claws and teeth, and they are inferior because they can't move with any sort of finesse. You have to heave them around and they don't turn quickly when your body wills it."

A moment passed wherein she put more thought into the description before finally concluding. "This weapon I have in my head... well, the ideal traits I have, I don't know if such a thing exists. I will know it when I see it, though. Freedom is more important than the ability to crush the bones because I can do that already with my strength. If you put enough force behind anything it becomes able to bring down your prey."

Of course, the hyena demon wasn't well-versed in many things, but if there was one category that she instinctively knew a lot about, it was efficiently killing things. It was her knack in life and what she was born and equipped by the gods themselves to do. Indeed, her own spirituality dictated that it was her purpose, and when she first skirted the fires of the moon village, one of the first things she observed after the lazy livestock was the manner of weapons that the guard carried around. Most of them used any available weapon, and that was a surprising variety of things.

[ EXP: 271 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Freedom? Well, that made sense. It would certainly add something to her repertoire she didn’t have. “So, like a chain or a whip.” He would say, noting he himself didn’t have any experience with anything like that, though they both sounded like difficult weapons to master. “They’re both pretty much the inversion of what you have now in the spear. Keeping the range, but not being restricted in form. Seems like a good deal. Which also means it’s likely expensive.” True, good things, especially weapons and food, didn’t come cheap. That said he was still willing to help her, provided she pays the fee and the currency. He could likely get her a better deal and pick something up for himself on the side. Even if she was weird, annoying, and had a tendency to invade his personal space and cause problems for him, a chance to make money was a chance he was going to take, regardless of who it was he would be working for.

The duo would, finally, arrive outside a small, poorly constructed shack made of mostly spare bits of wood and some stone for good measure. With the pure, black color of the smoke plumes floating from the hole in the small roof, Rashn would assume this was a smithy. People had gathered outside, and it was obviously popular for whatever reason. Made sense: people often needed tools or weapons, so anyone who made or dealt in those goods would have a lot of business. Maybe he should look into that? Quality goods would likely be hard to come across, but it might be worth it in the end. “Do you know what you’re after yet?”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The woman looked at the crowd ahead and frowned, shaking her head solemnly again. "I do not wish to give them butterfly kisses with my freedom, friend," she said. Personally, she wouldn't take someone who used a whip or anything like that seriously. In nature, there were no carnivores that simply lashed their prey to death that she could bring to mind. Ripping... tearing... crushing... these were the harms that she knew. Playing keep-away wasn't as important to her. "But I think that might somehow be in the right direction."

Sternly, she shoved people out of the way so she could get inside of the smoke-spewing shop. The idea of a line hadn't fully formed in her head, though she imagined that the people were standing around like that for a reason. Either way, they weren't important. The ease with which she could shove them aside told her that they were weak, which made her more important than them.

Once inside, she would immediately begin looking for a suitable weapon, not paying the least bit of attention to the reactions of the people around her.

[ EXP: 215 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Rashn could tell this woman was the type who thought little of talking. Diplomacy failed her. Butterfly kisses? With a whip? He had been whipped before, and it hurt much more than stabbing did, or being bitten, or anything along those lines. While it was less dangerous, the pain was rather higher. Less blood though, which he was thankful for. Either way, it seemed his suggestion helped, so he would take that as a minor victory and continue to largely ignore the woman’s troubling presence. The sooner they finished here and he could leave, the better. He really didn’t like her. Perhaps, even, actively disliked her? It was to be expected.
He would not hinder her as she pushed aside the shopping men and merchant with ease, as it would be much too much trouble to do so. The most he would offer was a head bow in apologized as he followed in her wake, happy enough that it was at least the right place. A smithy. Thank god! Just as quickly as the woman went to work, did he, too, get to business. His eyes scanned around for the knives and blades collections, though not much was laid out. He had a mind to get two or three, just for safety’s sake. In case one broke, the other would replace it. Maybe he could even learn to dual-wield? Sounded fun. Also hard, and annoying. Probably not a good idea after further thought. Dissatisfied, Rashn would step to the front and as the merchantsmith directly to see his collection of small-blade weaponry.
“Excuse me, I’m looking to barter here. Can I see what you have in terms of smaller weapons? Perhaps something along the lines of a dagger or knife?”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

"Ah HA!" Iskra roared in victory.

It was as though divine providence had stepped in to show her the very weapon she sought: heavy, and yet free.

Before her eyes was a fierce ring of three blades. Now, any ancient viewer might have known these sharp edges to be from a lawnmower, but they may as well have been metal from the gods. Artfully, the surfaces had been sharpened and bent for their sinister purpose and affixed to the end of a handle, retractable into that handle like three claws in a paw.

This handle was affixed to a chain that wound for a dozen or so feet and attached it to its brother, a similarly crafted piece.

"This is perfect!" she all but shouted, reaching for the treasured and unique tool of murder.

"Pretty useless if you ask me," a one-eared warrior grumbled next to her as he selected from the vast array of warhammers on a rack adjacent.

The woman stiffened. "Excuse me?"

He raised a particularly nasty thing tipped with a spiked ball up to the light of the forge for scrutiny. "Could easily cut the hand of its user. Too hard to control. Like wielding a snake if you ask me, pah." The warrior snorted and his nose ring jumped with the movement. "One of Nemein's weirdo inventions. Never really caught on. I guess that's why there's only one of them."

Iskra's icy blue gaze followed the grizzled hammer-user as he made his way to barter for his purchase. "Idiot..." she murmured.

[ EXP: 308 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Through the commotion of Iskra and her careless ways, Rashn’s visage remained hard as stone while scanning through the long, thin box made of a very pretty oak-like substance. Impressive, considering how rare trees were in… well, the desert. The contents of said box shined vibrantly in the hut illuminated by a mixture of burning coals and golden rays of sunshine which flowed through two meagerly sized windows. Blades, many of them, reflected in the scrutinizing eyes of the auburn haired merchant, whose poker/barter face denied his inner happiness. These items were of great quality, and to think they had been hidden away at some border town like this one made him cry internally as a merchant and connoisseur of fine goods, despite his bliss at the actual find. He honestly wished he could have all of them. They’d sell fairly well in the main cities. What would the crafter of such things be doing all the way out here? Seemed like a waste of talent to Rashn, but he didn’t really mind. His focus was so firmly planted on these weapons, that he was already in the legendary transformation known only to a few select merchants as, ‘Barter Mode’. Indeed. A fearful technique.

His ears picked up the delight of Iskra and her new friend’s thoughtful opinion, though despite their conversation, no cracks appeared in his demeanor. As soon as he saw the blades, honestly, he was in the ‘Barter Mode’, and he would not flinch or show weakness whatsoever until the deal was done. The only bit of wasted movement came from the scanning of his eyes, deep in thought, tracing the very figures of the weapons. He was obviously looking for something in particular, encouraged by the actual quality of the items. Perhaps if the man who made them was of such grand skill, he would have made the precise type of weapon Rashn himself was looking for?

Obvious delight followed the trial of searching the box’s contents came in Rashn’s face as he grinned, the first real change in expression he had made since he was shown the box. There, nearly all the way on the far left side, sat a collection of his preferred weapon. They were small, and slightly curved in shape, with an open metallic circle on the end. Their size, combined with said circle, made them look more like play knives one would keep on a keyring or something, or perhaps were meant to be used as throwing projectiles instead of actual melee weapons. The most obvious part, however, was the grip orientation. It was… backwards? This was the particular part that made Rashn so happy, but it didn’t make much sense. Reverse bladed knives of such size were clearly odd, but it was what the man was searching for.

Before he broke away from that, he would turn back to his companion, and call out to her. His intention was for the two of them to make their purchase simultaneously. Perhaps he could throw the weight of a bulk order in the face of the smith and get a better pricing out of it? Even if heshe were both evil and a bitch of a person, Rashn could still make use out of it all. “Oi, Iskra.” The name felt weird as it came off of his tongue, as he much would’ve preferred to her as ‘stranger who I’ve never met before’, but he would deal with it somehow. “I take it you found what you were looking for?”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

"I did," the annoyed demon answered with a steadiness to rival a granite boulder. She'd become unusually thoughtful and quiet after the comments of the other, though her assertive mannerisms usually called for a quiet strength. It seemed this manner of acting amped up in times where she felt disrespected.

She strolled up to the blacksmith's counter. There was a bag on her person, near the waist. It was a property of the gear she'd salvaged from the ruined building where she'd first donned clothes. This bag she upended on the table, revealing a vast array of things. There was jewelry that glowed with a demonic power. There were small daggers. There were antler shards. There were cheeses tenderly wrapped in paper. There were glossy chunks of carapace from demonic insects. There were serrated, jagged teeth. There was a gold ring. There were wooden icons with dark symbols emblazoned on them. There were small, metal artifacts. There was a horsehair doll. There were pieces of dried, seasoned meat. There were small pouches. There were springs. There were feathers from demonic birds of prey. There was a compass. There were polished stones.

All in all, there were 28 individual items. All of them were very common. Atop this pile, she boldly laid the bone spear and beside the pile she laid her currently desired weapon before she folded her arms and stood back, confident in her friend's ability to negotiate a good deal and procure her the weapon.

[ EXP: 300 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

With the arrival of Iskra to the ‘dealer table’, as it were, and Rashn’s deciding of which blades he wanted, the game was, essentially, ‘on’. Or something like that. Whatever kids these days said after the advent of the Dawn. Even if it was something stupid like ‘rockin’ or ‘pumpin’. Those sounded ridiculous, but if kids said that the ‘game was rockin’ or the ‘game was pumpin’, then that was what the game was. Kids were weird so it wouldn’t surprise anyone if it sounded that stupid. Oh well.
Regarding matters of actual importance, the scenario was set. Three pairs of reverse bladed knives, and a set of chain blades. While knives or daggers were still fairly common, Rashn internally grimaced at the thought of how expensive the exotic looking weapon the demon had taken a liking to was. Realistically, that meant he couldn’t just act all wishy-washy and half ass it. Not that he would, of course, seeing as any penny saved was another day lived on his part. But, still, knowing he had someone else relying on him put pressure down. It was as if he was lifting a heavy weight; it hurt his back. It wasn’t unnatural for a merchant to do bartering on behalf of someone else for payment, but very rarely was the client ever in the room.

Yet still, relief would come to him as the woman emptied her pockets to a fair share of things. Not a very large amount of anything, but they looked fairly decent. Knickknacks, mostly, but still something he could make do with. Counting the bits quickly, he deduced that, while her things were small, they were large in number. He could probably consider it close to his own wealth at the moment, though he had less individual items, but more of it. That was fine. No loss there. The only problem was that, without his things in front of him to bargain with, he would have to go on words alone. There was no opportunity for him to show his goods to the smith in hopes of him liking the actual quality of goods and getting a better deal for it. Overall, it wasn’t optimal, but he had done similar business before. Normally it was done between two long-distance traders who had no ability whatsoever to see the goods’ quality, so words would need to be powerful and descriptive.

At this point, the woman would back off, and he would feel some of that pressure from before encroaching back. No, any distractions must be ignored. It was not necessary to worry about others. Only focus on the job. That, among a few others, was a cardinal merchant rule. With his eyes narrowed, he would resume the legendary ‘Bartering Mode’ of merchant legend. Yes, all would feel his true strength! Not that Rashn was one to act hotheaded or anything. It was just confidence. Simple, elegant confidence.

Everything was set. The prologue done, the eyes of the two merchants would meet. There was no backing down from the moment of realization between the two. They both understood instantly, and the man, gruff and wet with sweat from his slaving over the anvil and furnace, would set down the first rule: “I don’t want knickknacks. Get this crap off of my table.” A despair-inducing comment. Aggressive right from the start.
“They’re not knickknacks,” countered the auburn one, faking an inquisitive look after that statement. “Well, perhaps they are… to some. To some who do not know how to use them.” His eyes identified a few that he could understand. Food was likely not to do much good here, but perhaps maybe. The antler shards and bits of metals, both the gold ring and artifacts, as well as the shiny stones themselves. These were the things he could work with directly. “These here,” he said, referring to the ring and artifact portions. “These smelt well. They’d do well to replace what you’re losing here.”
“Even if I could use every bit of it, there’s so little it’d barely replace the chains, let alone the bladed bits. Don’t kid with me.”
“The chains would be twice to three times as strong, of course. Even if the blades are cheap, if the chain itself is of quality, the price would be staggering. Are you not confident in your ability to haggle?”
“If I wasn’t,” the man said, anger somewhat in his voice. It was just the way he spoke. “would I be here now? I’m smart enough to know that I’d be doing myself more harm than good if I was bad at it. And I’m also smart enough to know that you’re doing the same thing for that woman there.”
“Yes, but,” Rashn would cut in here, though not really for any merchant related business. He just did not want to be associated with Iskra any more than was necessary. Any jokes related to him being her manslave, or her being his woman, would likely be met with him wretching all over the goods. “there’s a reason for all of that. I owe her a favor, is all. It’s nothing serious. Unlike this here,” he would say, picking up some of the wooden shards, imprinted and all. “These are believed to have special properties when burnt. They can stretch the materials you’re working with several times over. But, that’s all just here-say.” This was made mostly to make him doubt it all. Most of the time, if you pressured someone into believing something, they wouldn’t care, but if you tossed out the possibility, they would think about it. “In reality, they’re just good for making fires. They burn long, but, maybe there is more. I don’t know, I’ve never burnt them before.”
“Fine. I see the value in the knickknacks, but that can’t be all you’re offering for all of this. I’m no fool.”
“Of course not, neither am I. Only one fool thinks a fool of another. And, I’m smart enough to be… fairly successful in all this. I’ve got some wares you can have as well, though it’s mostly general goods. I have some ores from Rajeh you might like, to make up for the loss of materials, and some grains from the north. There’re also spices from beyond the mountain ranges…” Rashn would, at this point, go on and on for a small while. He would describe the goods in detail, and the man would bite his tongue. Good, then. It was working. After a period of time lingering close to fifteen minutes, Rashn would stop. There were no interruptions. This could be both good, or bad. Luckily, the man seemed to like it all. He would ask to see the goods, but Rashn would mention they were in a tent on the outskirts of town and would assure the quality and quick delivery of them all. He would then drop the name of something that sounded like a group, and the man would nod.
“I understand. If you’re part of that guild, then I can trust in your sincerity. They do good business. Fine, I’ll give it to you, for…” he dropped a ‘number’, and it seemed like a good deal. The only question at that point was, how good of a deal?

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Roll: Barter [Perfected]

Veteran Rep! : 5

The member 'Kiun' has done the following action : Dices roll

'[ Perfected ]' :
The Sun Also Rises OMEGA

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra raised an eyebrow in admiration. Where she might have had to trade in her entire pile plus the spear to convince the man to part with a single link of the chain, judging by the aggression in his voice, her auburn-haired ally managed to get her the prize for a mere half of... well, on an instinctive level she had no idea how much the spear and the various pieces she'd picked up while hunting in the depths of hell really "cost", but she did recognize that it was a great deal. He didn't even want all of the bits, it seemed, though some of them were much more valuable than they initially appeared simply because of where they were from.

A carnivorous grin came over the woman's face, and she patted her friend heartily on the back with a surprising power arising conjointly from her demonic heritage and her upbringing in the wild forests of Terra. That is to say, her swinging hand could have easily displaced a 400 pound boulder, and she wasn't accustomed to her own strength. "Good deal! We'll take it. Camel guy, you can have the rest left over."

So excited was she to be a hold of the beauties that she snatched them off of the table with surprising speed and tenderly cradled them in her arms as she carelessly shoved her way out of the tent again. Her scar-eyed friend fell upon a distant part of the forge as a completely unintended intentional shove, rather, it looked like just another careless push, but there was a devilish malice to it, and she suppressed a grin as a roar of hurt and indignation filled the air.

The demon quickly made her way outside and only slowed down when she was completely out of the blacksmith's "Emporium", as she heard a small boy yelling to advertise the shop, desperate to be heard above the general din of the crowd.

Once in the relative safety of the relatively open air, she sat on the sands, examining her new weapon in the intense sunlight and waiting for her merchant to emerge.

[ EXP: 395 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Inside, Rashn was rather overjoyed. He did a good job, and could recognize that. Realistically, a normal person might need to pay even twice as much as he was going to. Normal merchants would’ve gotten a better deal, but he couldn’t imagine them doing as well as he himself had just done. It was like a steal, or some sort of crazy sale held in the middle of Rajmart. He wondered for a moment if such a place existed. Brushing it off, he would continue for a moment to converse with his business rival, ensuring him of the quick delivery of his portion of the goods. It had kind of boiled down to a ‘half-now half-later’ kind of thing, where Iskra’s goods were to change hands immediately, and the portion from his own stash would be delivered by day’s end.

Then, amidst the simple enjoyment of two former-opponents in the bartering game, came the brutal beatdown that was the demonic lady’s hand upon Rashn’s spine. Pain coursed through him for a moment, but realistically, if it wasn’t a blade piercing him, he would be fine. Blunt objects hurt, but if he did not bleed, there was no problem. Not to say it did not hurt, naturally. In fact, for the rest of the day he would not be able to sit straight in peace. An unlikely event to happen anyway, but now it was made near impossible by the brute of a woman. Turning, Rashn had the desire to go off on her, yet the look on his face told him it was not so much an attack as a celebration. Well, these were the things that played in the desert heat with full usage of their fangs and teeth and called it fun, so perhaps this time it was him not understanding her culture. Awkward, considering how often it was the opposite.

Taking a moment to calculate, he would go over exactly how much he owed, and how much was Iskra’s that remained. He had the 20% fee to go over… but, wait, she had said that it was his to keep? Really? How generous. First the leaves, and now her little trinkets and treasures? Well that was kind of her. As annoying and bitching as she was, she also had some generosity inside. Perhaps she was bipolar? Honestly, that would only serve to make Rashn dislike her even more, though it would give her odd behavior an excuse. Alas, this was all unimportant. Rashn would take the bits that remained from Iskra’s pouch and follow in the wake of her leaving. Again he would apologize silently, but make no real effort to help. “So,” he begins, tying the blade holsters which were offered alongside the blades to his hips. “what now? Where will you go from here?”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra didn't look at Nori right away. Instead, she sat there in silence and several moments passed with only the sobbing of children and the yelling of customers and the shuffling feet of the market livestock.

"I've got to figure out how to use them."

Suddenly, she flung the blades out to the side of her opposite the entrance where there wasn't much foot traffic. They plopped uneventfully on the sand, throwing up a small dust cloud. Her blue gaze remained on them, however, icy and focused. In fact, ice soon began to coalesce on the blades, originating from the segment of the chains still curled on her lap. The frost crawled up the length of the metal like a hairy caterpillar, its progress marked by crystals and an aura laced with white, curling wisps of magic.

Slowly, painfully the cold force made its way towards the claws laying lifelessly in the sand. When they reached them, the claws suddenly spread open, lively and aggressive with an audible shnk, and then with a few shudders, they began to levitate gradually out of the sand.

Eventually, the blades hovered a few inches above the sand they'd landed in, shuddering and weaving back and forth like some serpent drunk on the audible liquor of a flute.

[ EXP: 251 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Rubbing his sore back in pain, Rashn would mutter that it made sense to practice with your weapon after you purchased it. He himself would need to try his out, though he had already practiced using small bladed weapons before, so it wasn’t particularly new to him either. There was a need to get accustomed to the weight differences and the exact lengths and all that, but he was no stranger to the actual weapon. His thought process was interrupted, however, by the sudden outburst made by the demon woman beside him. Her rapid attack on thin air caught him a little off guard. She really didn’t do that whole thinking thing too well, did she? People would join in Rashn’s staring, as whispers about her weirdness were passed between commoners. It was unfortunate, but the man could only silently agree. She was certainly a weird-o.

It was then, however, that the sick feeling in his stomach started to swell up. Something odd began to happen, as cold icicle-like crystals started to seemingly encase the chains, eventually meeting up to the blades. While the people witnessing this began to murmur more loudly amongst each other, and the occasional gasp would be heard, Rashn himself was fairly well aware of what was happening. It was that damn magic of Iskra’s, wasn’t it? He could only imagine it to be her: she had showed him rather recently she had the ability to screw with things, and do make the unnatural happen. This bit here, with floating weapons and ice being created right in the middle of the desert sun, could only be caused by her. All the signs pointed there anyway. “What are you doing?!” Rashn whispered below his breath, trying not to cause too much more attention to be drawn. There was no way he could pass it off as if he didn’t know her, seeing as they just walked out together and he had even done work as a merchant for her just now. “We’re still in the public you know!”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The woman continued to focus her energies on making the blades hover. A snap filled the air as her concentration broke slightly with his words... the sound of ice breaking suddenly. The heat despised the unnatural presence of the warmth-free spot in the area and went against it. For the moment, Iskra was fighting off the entire weight and force of the essence of the desert itself: its unrelenting high temperatures. That and her own lack of ability to implement this skill. Perhaps if she experimented with some chants or something. This sort of murmuring wasn't particularly effective at holding the blades aloft.

"What do I care what these people think?" she said at a perfectly audible volume. "I am what they call a witch." It was the closest term she knew for general-female-magic-user without that many syllables. "This is what I do."

The blades gyrated insanely, curling in on themselves like a slug exposed to salt, the rattle of the chains against each other serpentine in their pattern and intonation. They weaved and made marks like a sidewinder's tracks in the sand. She was playing with the instruments, for all manner of fighting is first practiced by play. The human weapons fascinated her to no end.

[ EXP: 252 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

So, she already had that type of reputation? Well, that was perfectly fine and all, but Rashn didn’t need to be associated with people like that. His reputation as a merchant relied on only dealing clean business, really. Unfortunately he wasn’t so well off that he could go making whatever image for himself that he wanted to. As such, being around Iskra was proving to be both a pain to his physical self, his emotional self, and his merchant career. She wasn’t a very nice person to be around. Yet somehow, like fate, the two seemed to be pulled together. Even if they had only met twice, she didn’t seem like the kind of person he would be able to get away from if he tried. Of course if she ended up being GOOD for business, which is the opposite of what she was now, then it’d be worth it all in the end. “That’s fine, but you don’t want us to get chased out of here, do you?”

It was a serious problem. If the people freaked out about it, they’d probably start a riot and try to throw the two of them out, or worse. Rashn still wanted to do business here, maybe not now, but in the future, so relations and public impression was something of top priority. While it was true magic was ‘heard of’ these days, seeing it was an entirely different matter. “Anyway, why don’t we just leave? You can do that stuff somewhere else, can’t you? Wouldn’t it be better that way?” He tried to think of some way to convince her quickly. “You should try that out on some live game. Hunt an animal or something like that. Something that fights back.”

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Roll: Barter [Honed]

Veteran Rep! : 5

The member 'Kiun' has done the following action : Dices roll

'[ Honed ]' :
The Sun Also Rises GAMMA

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

For a moment, Iskra continued on, disinterested both in the crowd and in the protests of Nori. She almost had the blades to a full six inches up.

Yet, she could taste the anxiety coming off of him. It was a trait common to carnivores, the ability to smell fear. Some humans could do it as well, though it was more of a subconscious thing with them, more often than not.

So she pulled the blades back to her bosom, tucking them gently into the bag at her hip and standing to her feet. Soon that guy who gave an opinion on her weapons would be out anyways, and she didn't feel like wasting valuable energy in a fight with him.

"You're right. I should practice swinging elsewhere. I don't know how successful I'll be at hitting a live creature with them, though. Perhaps we could try a still, soft target?"

Her eyes moved to the merchant, then to the gawking crowd. She imagined that she could put on a show for them and they might throw a few items, but as things were she felt that she should try to ease Nori's obvious worries. "Where to?"

[ EXP: 215 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Ah, good, she agreed to- wait, what? No, no. That was bad. She assumed that he was going to take her somewhere? In reality Rashn was simply trying to get her to leave, and then he himself could get going. There were places he needed to be and all, as a busy man and what not. He didn’t have the time to babysit, and the look she gave when she asked for a soft/still target made him feel rather uncomfortable. The last thing he needed was to be alone in the vast desert with her, especially after what had just happened in the privacy of just a tent. Actually, no, the last last thing he needed was to become a daddy, but after what happened in the tent, that was also a possible result of being alone with her. So, in that case, being alone with that woman was the last last last thing that he wanted or needed in his life. But, his life would be over anyway were she to tarnish his reputation even more.

Coughing into his fist, he would move to gently wrap his arm around her shoulder and turn her away, starting a walk back to his camp. “Oh, I don’t know. Where do you want to go? I’m sure you could find something to practice on out there.” Like a cactus. Or the sand. Or a giant pile of sand shaped like a cactus. As long as it did not involve Rashn, he himself was not particularly worried about the specifics.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra's brows furrowed like a pair of bones bent towards each other by muscle. Honestly, she wasn't sure how to interpret the arm around her shoulder. It was very much like a hold. Holds had no analogue in the animal kingdom outside of fights or reproductive movements. She knew he wasn't trying to fight her, so that really only left one interpretation for the unfamiliar gesture.

So she reciprocated in a similarly small way, wrapping an arm around his waist. He wasn't bad-smelling, and his hair had a rare and pretty color. Her idle thoughts wondered what any potential offspring might look like. Auburn hyenas? Who'd ever heard of such a thing? At least he'd have a fairly easy time delivering them. Hyenas have much smaller heads than human babies, though they were born with a full set of teeth and the ability to kill other things their size. The thought was cute... a little mewling hyena pup covered in blood from her first kill, likely her own sibling. Absolutely adorable.

"I'm sure we can," she answered simply. Her best source of food and water in the massive sandbox wasn't getting off that easy.

[ EXP: 226 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

There was another troubling word: we. So they were a ‘we’ now? He didn’t want to be considered anything that involved her. The arm around his waist was troubling too, but he figured he asked for that. Whatever, no problem. As long as they were moving away from people. That was the first and most important part at the current moment. Anything else could wait until Rashn’s reputation was out of jeopardy. “Well, you know, I’ve got to get to Labrum.” It occurred to him then that perhaps she had no idea of what he was talking about. “Ah, it’s a village to the east. It’s by the water, you know?” Perhaps she had never been there. Actually, that was rather likely. Nobody liked Labrum. The damn group there only liked their own strength and thought of most other people as weak. Those he met who heard he did business in Rajeh were rather hostile, but others understood that you would do what you had to in order to survive. He really wasn’t sure why they didn’t get along: the people of Rajeh and Labrum, but that wasn’t his problem. “I’ve got something to do there in a few days. I got sponsored, or something… something about a race, I think?”

Honestly he had forgotten about it by and large, but it was something he had agreed to do, and even if it was stupid it was a chance to earn some money. What’s more, were he to do well or win, which he wasn’t particularly expecting, his name would get more renown. That was great. Unlikely, but great all the same. Hopefully his mentioning of it wouldn’t interest her. Those things were probably boring to her, but still, her leaving him alone and not joining him on the outing would do the opposite of hurt. “With that said, what’s this we? Shouldn’t you go off and try it on your own? I’ve got other things to do and you hanging around me would only slow you down, you know.”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The chains rattled in their sack, animated for the moment by the magic of the beast before settling back down into their accustomed place.

"I guess you're right. Besides, I could always find you again." With the arm that was around his waist, she yanked him closer and moved her face into his lovely hair, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes. With her superior strength, she'd hold him there for a few moments, finally exhaling in a low grumble as she released him all together.

"I've got your scent, so I won't be losing you any time soon. I'm practicing my tracking, you know. I want to get better at it so I can find people better when I go looking for them."

She smiled with a genuine, amiable warmth, something few entities in this realm ever got to see from the vicious demon. "Especially you, my friend. I will see you later."

Waving, she began to walk back off into the desert. Eventually the distance would swallow her, and the merchant wouldn't have to worry about this beast for another long while, sometime after she'd refilled her pockets with trinkets both valuable and cheap.

[ EXP: 226 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

The once-again invaded personal space of Rashn would give way to another flush of sickness in his body, though this one was much more short lived than the last bit of it. His body ached from her demonstration-of-strength ‘pat’ he had received when inside the weapon store just a few moments ago, and this tug only served to cause even more pain. The compliment was nice, though. Not smelling bad was good. Admittedly for an animal she wasn’t so bad. Not a very nice smell seeing as it was associated with her and her annoying tendencies, but the smell on its own was… okay, tolerable at best, but not terrible. She could pass in his eyes as an uncleaned regular human. Bathing and hygiene was probably important to animals so she probably did something to stay on that. Probably.

Then came the promise that he could be found at any time, and this somewhat caused him to curse his foul luck. Nothing was on his side recently. The merchant gods had abandoned him and now it was apparent he was going to have to deal with this woman for the foreseeable future. Again, as previously mentioned, this was welcomed if it came with profit, but it was unlikely, going by how she herself said it, that any profit from her would arise in coming months. A brothel would likely take some time to set up, and even then Rashn was not interested in assisting with something like that directly. “Ah, I see. It’s nice to know you think so highly of me.” Not really. But, he would say it nonetheless in an effort to keep the peace. AS the woman would walk off into the distance, Rashn would straighten his clothes a bit and dust some of the sand off, not that its effect would last long as sand always had a way of creeping up on someone. I mean, it was the desert and all.

-END-