A wagon is a wagon is a wagon (Mod please)

[Carly Jr'ana]

Perhaps these peoples lives were structured, and perhaps they had only one concieved concept of what constituted an animal for riding, or how to travel from one location to another. At the moment most of Narims residents were walking about on foot, when they travelled to other cities to visit relatives many travelled by foot because a sea farring journey was by far too expensive, and quite frankly, silly.
Carly had experienced the hardships of travelling by foot, and she was lighter than almost all land dwelling beings, her feet did not touch so roughly upon Telaths surface. At this time in space Carly was practically gliding with glee across the cobble stones of the Shvakkim, thankfully Thelyri weren't such a very rare sight in such a coastal town and the majority of people starred at her only in that "whats a child doing out alone" way. Because Carly looked nothing like an urchin, today she was dressed up to appear important.

Having noticed the hardships of travel, for she was an impatient little elf, and having seen the ingenious methods they employed in Ieffreon, for she had lived there a for an era or so, Carly had come up with a wonderful new idea! Naturally the people of Sheria depended on horses for travel, and of course they travelled individually and quickly, or slowly and in groups. Not only this, but carting their luggage about was a problem indeed. And Carly had seen ships, and she had seen wagons, and she was really quite imaginative. Thinking about how she could make money, other than from her wonderful fishing idea, she was also busy grumbling about the troubles of the road and wishing she had one of those little Sauraus pulled quickie carts to transport her.

This was where the grin crept across her face, as it still was as she headed towards a wagon makers shop. One of those specialist people who made wagons, carts, and things with wheels and carrying poles. Sauraus's came in all manner of sizes, for they were very large beasts of burdins, so she would use one, two, or maybe a team of four to pull what would amount to a room on wheels. Two rooms maybe... or, well the rooms wasn't important. It would basically be a little ship on wheels with benches and room for luggage or merchandise. Hopefully she could find a wagon maker who could make her such a room, she hoped to transport a good 20-30 people with luggage and hopefully some merchandise room. Maybe this would catch on?

Anyway, that was her idea, and one she was very proud of. She was going to take care of the Sauraus problem in another less friendly city, but for now she wanted to find someone to design and create one of these wagons. And she was going to find someone to do it cheaply. Coming to where the bulletin board told her there was one such shop she stopped for a moment to judge how well they could deal with her request.

[Reliant]

The sea elf stood before the doors of the wagon shop, the roof seeming to tower off in the distance of her sight. One of Telath's suns shone down upon her, causing her to squint slightly to see the top. Her dimunative size always seemed to make things bigger for some reason. There was a clean and new-looking sign above the door, made of a wood that appeared to be quite sturdy indeed. The shine of the steel handles lost their sheen from the many hundreds of hands that must have opened it. As she reached to open the door a man clad all in blue opened the door rather swiftly, knocking poor Carly smack on her bottom. The elf was dazed from the encounter, but the man continued to walk, as though nothing happened. This place appeared to be quite a busy place indeed. It must be for people to not even pay attention to where they tread.

The door was closing slowly, pulled by a simple chain and weight mechanism, but Carly noticed in time to catch it if she wished. The insides of the store were brightly lit from a series of large windows surrounding the building on all sides. From the ceiling hung axles and wheels alike, large wooden pieces that belonged to wagons of various sizes, looking like skeletons of enormous beasts. The walls were covered in shelves, strewn with various other wagon parts such as springs, nuts, and bolts. Some parts seemed to be quite new while others appeared to be resting in their dusty spots for eras.

At the back end of the shoppe there was a counter. A large man with a thick and gnarled black beard was stationed behind the counter, his greasy palms lying flat on the black-stained wood, evident that he was the man Carly wanted to talk to. The man grinned a large toothy smile that beckoned customers forwards, catching them off-guard with a loud guffaw a pound on the counter with his palms. "Welcome to Derrik's Wagons!" If Carly had indeed made it through the door without any trouble then Derrik would look down and smile. "Welcome, little one. How may I be of assistance to you?" The man smiled again and peered over the counter at the elf, his eyes alight as though with the pure innocence of childhood. It was obvious this man had nought to do with hardship, and that he had led a rather content and happy life.

[Carly Jr'ana]

The suns were always a trouble for the sea elf, but then again, so were her eyes. Looking up at the roof of the building she wondered if it would be big enough to make the wagon she wanted, it looked it, and Carly was normally a good judge of size and distance. As she reached for the door she wondered if she could actually open it, it being so big and her being so very small. She didn't want to have to knock, that would be terribly embarrasing; but not as embarrasing as just being knocked over by a fast moving man. Rubbing her behind she glared angrily at the man, the impulses to cry and despair having been scoured away long ago; the very concept of laughter wrenched from her little blue hands.

She was not happy. Her eyes glared daggers at the man and she attempted to burn his visage into her head, she also took note of his three dimensional persona; a handy asset to the sea elf. She would be sure to create a sigil bestowing him with bad luck, practise was practise, and this was practise with a personal twist. Once the man had rushed from sight she rolled to her feet and made for the door, catching it just in time! HA! Take that unidentified stranger.

If the outside was interesting, and bright, the inside was even more so. Marvelling at the objects scattered about the shop Carly felt a little niggle to touch them, starring open mouthed at the large wheels she almost bumped into a dusty old shelf of nuts and bolts. Being a little more careful she took her time to stand still and gape at the sheer amount of varying items, and there were so many windows! This man must have been really rich. He could probably fund her travel company idea all by himself, not that she'd let him. This was her idea, and it would be her money... that or she'd find someone like Mr Junzo to help out.

Shaking the thoughts of moving rooms with odd shaped wheels of all sorts rolling along she turned her attention to the man behind the counter. Tempted to skip, but walking instead she came to the counter and met Derrick. Putting on her bestest smile and smoothing out the wrinkles falling down had put in her nice summer dress Carly batted her eyelashes in the way she did whenever she wanted something.
"Serale sir! I'd like to make a big... wagon. But not a wagon, but like a wagon. And uh... well, you make wagons?"
She really wanted to ask the previous man's name and smite him down, but that would be inappropriate. She had to seem grown up!

[Reliant]

The man smiled again, his eyes dark orbs or seemingly solid innocence. He leaned over the counter to look closer at Carly and grinned again. "You are just the cutest little thing, aren't you?" He must of thought that tremendously funny, for he burst forth into laughter, slamming his palms again and again on the counter; Carly was sure she heard it cracking. She inquired about the wagons, and Derrik stopped, his business demeanor taking over once more.

"Wagons, you say? Of course! I make all sorts of wagons!" He leaned in close as if to whisper in the sea elf's ear, "I even made the personal carriage for the Empress! Shhh , don't tell anybody though." He didn't say much more about that, but that was probably because one of the axles broke on the carriage before the Empress even left the city, ending up in a rather messy jam of traffic at the gates.

The man shook his head and looked back at her. "So what was it you needed miss?"

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly continued to blink periodically, although it was quite unnessasery, the man sure did look friendly. He looked a lot friendlier when he started laughing, Carly dug a toe into the floor and swivveled it in embarrasment. Red flushed to her cheeks and made her face look more purple than blue, she wasn't quite used to compliments.
It was therefore a relief when the man switched to business mode, and she was sure the countertop was relieved as well; poor thing.

The sea elf couldn't help but be impressed that the man had made a wagon for the Empress, she also couldn't help but be indignant about how the Empress had a carriage all to herself. What a hog! Carly would soon change that, the whole of Alleria would be revolutionized!
"Well, I was looking at a sort of cargo wagon crossed with a carriage that could carry twenty or more peoples... and their luggage... and some other goods maybe? Like, a room... but on wheels."
At this point her eyes squinted up and her hands retreated reflexively to her chest, hoping to hope the man would think her idea a good one. A human girl might crack an eyelid to examine the man's expression, Carly just felt at it with her sixth sense. How would he take it? Or more importantly, could he do it?

[Reliant]

Derrik's brow furrowed as Carly spoke. A room...on wheels? Was this possible? Could he do it? Has a thing ever been done like this before? It didn't sound probable, yet it was slightly enticing. It was an adventure to take on something that had never been done before. Derrik smiled as he leaned over the counter to look at the sea elf.

"I don't know. I don't know if it can be done, but it interests me." The man pulled out a large block of slate. framed in a solid polished wood, and a soft piece of white chalk. "But this is going to revolutionize wagons, I tell you! This will change the entire design so far. I will have to format a whole new frame, and change the wheel structure, not to mention add extra support..."

The man trailed off, mumbling to himself and drawing frantically on the slate with the chalk, seemingly forgetting Carly. It appeared to the sea elf that this is what Derrik lived for. Yes, the chubby man behind the counter was the man for wagons, for wagons was what he did, and all that he did. He was a man one could feel that they leave in charge of when it concerned a mode of transportation that involved wooden wheels and seats. Derrik continued to draw, pausing every now and then to scratch his chin and think, ignoring the small blue figure in front of him.

[Carly Jr'ana]

Opening her eyes at Derrik's seeming approval only to be met by his humoured smile. Starring right back at him she grimmaced hopefully, waiting only momentarily to be pleasantly surprised by his acceptance of the task. Placing her hands on the counter she pulled her head up to table top height to peer down at the slate and chalk, her blue feet barely touched the ground as she wobbled utop tip toes and observed the actions of a true master.

Carly wasn't miffed about being ignored, it was good the wagon man was doing as she had asked. It was as things should be, people always did what Carly asked. The price for building such a wagon sat within the back of her head though, what would he want? Could she pay for it in Ikos runes? Did she actually have to go seeking partners in her genius venture? And so Carly watched with increasing interest as he drew some sort of designs for her people wagon. Her mind skipped away from task of watching into the realm of imagination as she began to day dream the possibilities.

Perhaps she could have them magically enchanted to make the weight less of an impact? Or the walls tougher? There was still the trouble of orc hordes and she needed to seek help in that area, and then there was the animal problem and how would she seek appropriate payment. Even a one room hovel cost many crowns, but one on wheels? Carly would need people with money! She'd also need customers! Her head swam with thoughts until she focussed her mind upon one tiny little detail she could solve in the present, how in Aeternia did Mr Junzo do this she never knew.

Rapping a set of small blue knuckles on the counter top she tried to gain the man's busied attention.
"You wouldn't know where I can find some nobles would you? I thought you had 'em in Narim."
Whether he replied or not Carly continued to stare, supported only by the tips of her toes and her atheletic swimmers arms.

[Reliant]

The man continued about his work busily, adding a line here and a description there, working his flexible design into something that could be made. As he drew and erased, smudged and smeared, he breathed heavily, his technical brain on full throttle, thinking of all the possibilities that he could do to get the desired results. It seemed he was not the only one, the little sea elf in front of him was thinking very similar thoughts as well. She stood up on her toes and leaned on the counter, asking him a question, trying to gently coax him out of his reverie and answer her. After asking him a few times he snapped back to reality with a start, dropping his chalk in the process.

"Oh! Oh? Yes. Hm?" The large man blinked rapidly, looking around the room for customers, finally spotting Carly peering over the counter. "Oh, yes. Nobles, quite right, quite right." Derrik scratched his head and thought for a moment before replying. "Ahhhh yes, nobles. They could be found in the northern part of town. Just exit here and go that way." The man pointed his finger towards the door and continued to give the elf directions. When he concluded her grasped the edge of the counter and looked down. "As for this wagon...it interests me. I will work on it all this brightening and darkening. I will come up with a working design by then, I am sure. Come back and see me tomorrow. Then you will have your designs, and then we can agree upon how many you want and the price."

[Carly Jr'ana]

Carly was pleased when she managed to drag the man from her thoughts and return them to her questions, she listened intently to his words and mentally noted the directions she would have to take. Waving goodbye to the man she made for the door before remembering to give a curtsy politely. She was certainly happy with the progress she was making but was silently apprehensive at the tasks before her. Finding land to set up stands, getting word of her service to the townsfolk, travelling to Taralon and setting up a similar stand, hiring employees, find investors whether of noble of merchant blood and finally discussing some sort of agreement with the orcs to leave her wagons alone. And then there was the smugling planned on partaking in...

ooc: I had a much better post to go here but I lost it. sorry