Traveller's Day
Log Info
- Title: Traveller's Day
- Emitter: Cryosanthia
- Characters: Cryosanthia, Braelnoir, Caim
- Place: A07: Lower Alexandria Market District
- Time: Friday, February 05, 2021, 3:54 PM
- Summary: Cryosanthia and Braelnoir are handing out well made, non-descript backpacks for 'Traveller's Day'. A holiday no one has heard of, because they made it us as an excuse to give away backpacks. Packs that resemble the ones the five of them have been using in the shell game. Braelnoir arrives with food, and Caim arrives with comments, and Cryo introduces the two and catches Caim up on what's been happening since he last saw her. Merkabah, the Fae Queen, and the Animus scavenger hunt, largely, along with her having a family, then not. Braelnoir realizes that Menel's was Cryo's first foundling, his name and that detail never coming together in her presence before. Lily plays, and the two talk about Giggles the Gnoll, or somesuch, and make plans.
-=--=--=--=--=--=<* A07: Lower Alexandria Market District *>-=--=--=--=--=--=-
Just west of the Northern Highbridge and east of the arena, commerce blooms. Noisy and bustling, most anything may be purchased here for a price. Vendors from all cultures sell their wares from exotically colored carts, and the smells of different nations and far-off city-states mix with local ones from Alexandria and its riverbanks.
For all its commerce, visitors are advised to keep hold of their purses. Even the merchants possess a certain, cunning look. Most are positioned at carts or stalls as opposed to a formal storefront, with trade here being mobile, and visiting from all parts of the world.
Though the quality of goods suffers here compared to Upper Alexandria, the options are more diverse. Too, the oversight of the Watch is slightly less, and during times events are held at the Arena, chaos abounds. After dark, the square becomes a hangout for bards and other entrepreneurs whose business is best conducted by night; the shadows at the edges of the square often contain furtive figures engaging in their own brand of business.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Appearing, in Order =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cryosanthia 6'9" 291 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman. Braelnoir 5'11" 146 Lb Human Female A tall, pale Acanian woman, branded in silver. Caim 6'0" 190 Lb Human Male A human male with black hair and brown eyes -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
It's another glorious day in the lower market place!
If one's definition of glory includes, damp, grey and cold. Somewhere to the south the sun is shining, filling the sky with an aura of brightness that seems unwilling to come over and share.
Yet, commerce continues. The crafty merchants are about, scanning the crowd like hawks, and hawking their wares like scams. A few foreign accents can be heard. The ice has been thin this year, allowing more sea-ship trade than usual.
And off to one side of the square is a wagon with a brightly coloured banner on one side, declaring, "Happy Traveller's Day!" The horse-team is missing, seems only the wagon was rented for the full day. At the tailgate, a white-scaled Sith'Makar woman sits waving at passers-by and passing out backpacks.
Caim had bought some materials to apply to his titan armor and he walks to the wagon and looks to the sith'makar. "Having fun?" He asks curiously as he watches the woman and the people crowd her. He remains quiet for a moment before looking to the woman. "So whats new?"
Meanwhile, returning from a short chain of errands and personal requirements, a woman bundled in roughspun wool and furs makes her way to the wagon. There is a Xianese style gourd plugged with a cork at the narrow spigot up top as it dangles from the crook of the woman's elbow, and a basket wafting steam and the smell of seasoned meats clutched in hand wound in fluffy fur straps that blackened spikes protrude from.
Seeing her sister has company, Brae gives the fellow a visual going over on her approach, but she doesn't say anything until she's closer to hand, when she steps back around the wagon to the Sith's other side, "Gotcha some, too." Her wolflike eyes seek those of the armored man as she sets the basket on the corner of the tailgate and gives a, "Hey." before she fiddles with her gourd, uncorks it and takes a swig.
Ahhhh!
"Peace on your Nest, Caim," Cryosanthia says, holding out a backpack towards him. It seems to be of decent construction, very non-descript, and holds its shape enough it looks like there is something in it even when it's empty, "Happy Traveller's Day. Nothing new since last night. It has been almost a year since we were ice fishing, a lot has happened since then."
The backpack is left where he can grab it. She turns towards her sister, "Thanks Brae." She eagerly takes up the basket setting it onto her lap and opening it.
The wagon has a guard too. A little pink parka-rized patroller standing on the driver's seat. She immediately scampers over and thumps down beside the whitescale. Food is on her mind, so the people hanging around, they don't get greetings.
The woman nods with a fond, "Sure, luv." as she restoppers the gourd while Cryo grabs the basket, reasonably sure they'll leave her some. Brae reaches out with her safe(r) hand and lightly pokes the little parka'd figure, "Heyyy, whatta we say...?" more playful than chiding. She files the fellow as an associate of Cryo's to some degree, and leaves it at that as she takes up a backpack and turns a sweet smile to another nameless visitor, "Happy Traveler's Day, luv!"
"Little Fang, give greetings," Cryosanthia instructs. <draconic>
The little Kobold is halted in her food quest long enough to look up at Braelnoir, "Peassss," then Caim, "Peasss." After which she is allowed access to food.
"This one is not sure if you've met Braelnoir. She's my scale-sister and we've been through a lot. This is Caim, he, Ezil, Merek and I did a lot of fishing last year in the winter. Kaelyn too." Cryo unpacks the basket, passing a slice of meat to Lily. She eagerly takes a piece and downs it in two bites. "Thansssss."
"Bite and pull some pieces, Little Fang. Softskins see it as more civilized." Cryo instructs a little more. She follows her own advice, taking a strip, biting it an tearing a strip. "So, met with Seldan. Found out what he was talking to Akoniril about. Are you still in touch with the Brazen Stride, other mercs Brae?"
Braelnoir is about halfway through retrieving another backpack for a lucky visitor, when Lily's greeting brings her smile back her way, "Hello, Lily! Bein' good?" She turns back to complete her task with a, Happy Traveler's Day, luv!"
As Cryo makes with the introductions, she turns to fully face the fellow and she gives a little upnod, "Charmed." Fishing? Figures. Then the human gives a little snerk at the advisory on civilization and muses, "That what I been doin' wrong all this time?" in a playful tone. She sobers quickly as the Stride comes up, "I cut ties a while ago, luv... any of the old crew's still there, I reckon I can get a word in, just gotta figger where they're biv'wacked."
"Yup, that's what you've been doing wrong all along," Cryo says, grinning and taking tearing another bite out of a strip. "If you can, see if there's any word about work in Charn, and if there is, about who it's for. Ask like you're..."
She pauses, there's another person nearing. The whitescale waves him over, "Happy Traveller's Day!" She passes over a backpack, waits for a moment for some distance and discretion, "Ask like you don't know of him, but we're looking for info on Grauthis the Griever. Also, remember that Mul priestess? She set this task, so it's liable to be screwy, and don't let on that you're aware."
Not that either of them want to be anywhere near Akoniril at the moment.
Braelnoir is in her thoughts a bit before the palescale's mirth manages to finally touch her expression. Her hand brushes the left side of her hood and she nods, "Sure, luv, I'll dig around." Word that this comes from a Charneth Mul' is more welcome than if it'd been an Ogress from Bludgun, but that's the same sort of 'more welcome' as death by torture vs death by plague.
Caim looks to Cryosanthia and he turns back to the child and he reaches into a pocket and pulls out an ornate gold and emerald puzzle cube. "Got this for you little one, try and solve this as quickly as possible." He says as he looks to Cryosanthia. "So who is the lucky father? Anyone I know?"
"I saw Mikilos, and met a Mage named Cesran. He has a dragonstick, called Ral-sara, that's awakened greenwood and magic stone. A golem I guess, and not someone's soul trapped. Merek was there also. I told them about the house, that we should go get it. Of course, they want to take it apart." Cryo continues catching Braelnoir up.
Lily's eyes go wide. She almost drops her food. Almost. Instead the meat is stuffed in her long mouth, and she grabs the puzzle cube. She remembers this time, "Thanssss!"
"No..." The whitescale says, no happiness in her voice, "and no one I know either. Her tribe was killed. Survivors were taken into a necromantic swamp. Aya and I have tried finding them. No luck."
"Mercenaries were involved in that too. Tae killed the ones she could find."
Lily has paused her play with the puzzle, she's staring at Cryo. She understands enough Tradespeak to suss out the subject by tone. Her little tail flicks, then she sounds oddly cheerful, "Taae!"
And Cryo brightens up, she pats Little Fang on the head, cooing, "Yes, we'll go see Tia Tae soon."
"Just giving tribute to our overlords." Caim says with a grin to the child and he looks to Cryosanthia and his smile vanishes. "I don't know how much help I can be but I would like to try." He says calmly as he turns to Braelnoir and nods as he turns his attention back to the pale scale. "You do something with your horns? You look more mature since the last time I saw you." He says calmly.
Braelnoir brightens a bit, "Yeah, Cesran, I run inta him'n Morgan at the Fern, was lookin ta innerduce ya once things settled some. Tol'm a little bit about Sally an' Kae's gizmo. Bit about Merkabah an that kid. What I knew about't anyway." She shrugs a shoulder, then, arching an eyebrow at the armoured man, "Old friends." She glances to Cryo as she explains Lily's parental status and shakes her head, "we got a bad rep fer a reason...." she murmurs grimly, then brightens up as another Happy Traveler shows up for their own backpack.
"Well I may finance a search into the swamp to look for the necromancers. Maybe adventurers can find what Aya and I couldn't. I'll let you know." Cryo says, contemplating delegating the task. Lily meanwhile nods at Caim, but continues watching her clutch-mother. Especially as it seems to be getting colder.
The source of the increased chill is the Icy Sith'makar herself. The temperature is dropping around her, and it was cold to start with. She stares at Caim, "Do you recall the discussion of the Shard Tower and Time Travel with Cesran? Salina, a Fae monarach, almost a God herself, the Queen of Endless Winter. She took me back in time eighty years. I was her prisoner, her assistant, her slave and her beloved pet. I had a mate and my first child, a human foundling. My horns grew in over that time."
She clenches a fist, "Menel is dead. Killed. My mate, killed him and left me. She, My Mistake, wasn't even real in a way I can't explain easily and she spent a lot of time reading my mind, and changing it to her liking. All of me. Many surgeries." She holds out her arm, there are many little blue lines all over it.
Finally the whitescale shrugs, turns her attention to where Lily has been tapping her leg for some time. "It's ok Lily, Ssasaa is ok." A glance back to Caim, "Anyhow, Salina is neutralized now. Old news." Caim has partially disconnected.
Brae reaches out to brush Cryo's arm as the chil deepens, reminding her what she's lost, a light touch. You're not alone. There's concern in the woman's wolflike eyes as she elaborates on her time with the Endless Winter, and widen just a smidge on mention of Menel.
Wait.
-Him-?
There's some conversations that need to happen.... but they need to happen in order. They'd have to happen soon.
She doesn't remind Cryo of Ghisha, and how old news sometimes comes back for giggles, now and then. Her sister doesn't need that, now. The temperature around the snowy Sith improves, which is to say she stops making the air even colder and it returns to it's original miserable level. So there's wind-chill, but no longer Cryo-chill in effect. She affects a cheerful attitude, "Happy Traveller's Day! Happy Traveller's Day" and passes out a few bags. Mood somewhat restored, she continues.
"You missed a whole lot of other things. Those Artifice pegs that were transforming people, that device Kaelyn was working on. That's one of the reasons I'm very wary. I think hers ate her, or turned her into a blob or something. A few mages started casting Dispells at her, and it made things worse. She turned into a feather dragon, then went into a room in the Fernwood and never came out."
She gestures towards Braelnoir with her left hand, "Brae, she got hit. She turned into a Chimera, then a Mermaid, then a Marilith, and a couple other scaled things, I think before recovering. I was... a little out of it at the time. And I know a guy goblin that turned into a human woman and only barely managed to change back. No idea what happened to the half-human, half cow 'centaur' family. So, you missed a lot Caim."
Lily takes another piece of meat, returns to fiddling with the puzzle. Turn, twist, twist, rotate, twist.
Braelnoir passes another pack over to someone for their "Happy Traveler Day!" as Cryosanthia has regrouped, and she lets the distraction lay for now. There's no good to come out of that quagmire. That done, the Korite reaches into the basket for her own strip of spicy meat. Granted, much cooler than she'd normally like, but she came up a merc. If it ain't oisoned or spoiled, deal with it. if it is, deal with it smart. She considers the Stride in the interim, and meeting up with them again. Would they recognize her anymore? Would anything she'd say have weight?
"Anyhow, Seldan was Seldan, it was nice to see him again." Cryo has a bag tucked close to her hip. Except once in a while she hands it to someone without an accompanying wish, puts another in its place and returns to saying "Happy Traveller's Day" with each distribution. Another subterfuge, the tucked close bag looks more important, except it isn't.
"Merek was there. He was..." The whitescale starts to say, then exhales a long breath. She pats Lily on the head while she shakes her own, "I should talk to him instead of talking about him. He seems committed to adventuring and saving everyone again. So it is what it is."
"The Ral-sara staff was cool. Didn't get to talk much. Cesran is going to be looking for Magus Points. You ever hear of one of those?" Braelnoir blinks and looks back to Cryo, "Don't... think so, what're they supposed ta be?" she asks. She goes through the routine for another pack, another Happy Traveler ensured, then she takes a brief lull to tears a bite off from her meat and chew on it. Nomnomnom. Her old teeth made this a little easier, too, ah well, "We should 'fore Merek gets himself in too deep."
"No idea," Cryo shrugs, "It and ley lines. A mage thing. Being a little magical I would have expected to run across it, I guess now is the time."
She looks directly at her sister, says carefully, "He has a theory that the Animus shards will disturb ley lines and they can be tracked that way, and if he can't find the local ones to monitor, he'll just make some. So he'll be able to find them by the ripple disturbances they make."
Extremely enthusiastically, the whitescale hands out another bag, "HAPPY Traveller's DAY!"
She exhales a huff of cold air, "Maybe talking will help, I doubt it. He doesn't listen... maybe later..."
She looks at the wagon, "Well, we're nearly done. Thanks for grabbing the food." She sways, leaning to rub her shoulder against the Merc's. "It'll be ok."
The lean from the sith is met with a touch of her brow against the cool scales. No lips this time.
Don't say the human can't be taught. The musings of Cesran's objectives brings a thoughtful nod, a contemplation crossing Brae's features, "He cracks that we'll hafta change the game." she murmurs.
Meat pinioned between her teeth a moment, the Korite tears a bitty piece off to offer Lily's way(she's a growin girl, after all), then goes to working a civilized piece of her own free, then "Confess, I'm mighty curious about that Griever's moements so far. That can wait, though." The merc curls her free hand around her sister for a little squeeze, "We'll see't through, luv."
"S'what we do."
