[Bazaar] Through Tattered Clothes Small Vices Do Appear... (Valanthia & Elmaryia)

[Whisper]

OOC: Continued from here.

Contrary to popular belief, winter in Arakmat was quite frigid. The desert made all temperatures extreme, so instead of the normal sweltering heat, Arakmat's citizens had to withstand icy temperatures and biting winds. So this brightening in the bazaar, it was no surprise that vendors were showing off their warmest and thickest cloaks, coats, scarves, and head wraps.

"Fur cloaks for pretty lady?" piped up a young boy, running up to Valanthia and Elmaryia as they approached. He was carrying a huge fur garment on his back, draped over him so that he almost looked like a beast himself... but his cute face gave him away. Through his long black hair, one could make out a wild grin missing one or two teeth. His shirt's buttons were misaligned and the garment was patched in several places. Were it not for the fur wrapped about him, he would have been close to freezing.

"Very cold," he explained, nodding. "Need to keep warm!" The boy gestured over to a nearby stall, where a woman who might have been his young mother or older sister was calling out to passerby. Behind and around her hung a variety of lush-looking cloaks and furs of all types and colors. Though her clothes weren't in as bad shape as the boy's, they were still tattered. One might very well wonder how the family could afford to sell furs of this quality when their own clothes were in such disrepair.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Val had been to the bazaar before, of course, but she didn't remember to have seen the ragged-looking fur salesfolk. Not that this necessarily meant anything -- the bazaar was busy, and it was easy to miss something in the crowd.

The girl stopped when she heard the boy's voice. The contrast between his appearance and the quality of his wares did not pass unnoticed. "Well..." Val said to the boy, "I'm...I'm not sure I'm in the market for furs today. But perhaps we'll have a look. What would you...would you recommend for a person like me. Or for my friend?" she added, glancing over at Elmaryia.

As she spoke, she stepped over toward the stall where the woman was standing. She was followed by a truly massive canine animal, one that could look Val in the eye while still on all fours. The creature was completely white, and though it looked fearsome, it was obviously fantastically well-trained. It stopped well short of the stall and laid down, content to wait there until Valanthia and Elmaryia were finished.

"Let's see what you have," Val said with a polite smile. She then waited for the sales pitch that she knew was coming, curious to see what they would try to foist off on her and Elmaryia. Again, she wondered how these people were so poorly dressed if they were selling luxury items.

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

Never before had Elmaryia seen such a place, Merchants shouted at the citizens with the contents of their wares. Her blue eyes took the sights in and was surprised at the various trinkets of the merchants, some of which she had never seen.

The little boy draped in the furs amused Elmaryia and a grin curved her lips. Leaning down slightly so that she was night hoovering over him. " Well that is a lovely fur that you have draped over you." While she was not that interested in the boys wares, she was being kind. He was so young and it saddened her that he was forced to work the market when he should have been in shola.

With a smile Elmaryia returned her friends gaze as she straightened her back and waited for the boy to make his suggestions. Following Valanthia Elmaryia walked towards the stall and inspected the wares. " These are lovely furs. Is that boy your son?" Elmaryia asked friendly as she waited for the woman to speak.

[Whisper]

These were rather long sentences for the boy to comprehend--he was rather young still, and as Elmaryia noted, he was not in schola when he should have been. But he took the women's indulgent tones as a 'yes' and scurried over to the tent, beckoning them to follow.

The woman so far hadn't had any luck attracting visitors to the stall, so she was positively overjoyed when Val and Elmaryia approached. "Welcome!" she cried, clapping her hands together. "Please, let me show you some of our finest cloaks." With the air of a true and experienced saleswoman, she brought down countless cloaks and furs from where they hung around her. There were furs from leopards, bears, wolves, foxes... none of which were native to Arakmat. They must have been imported from all over the empire. There were even colored fur cloaks--purple, green, red... Yet if the women felt them, they would feel just... not right. There was something strange about these furs than either of the women would have ever felt before.

"Yes, he is my son," the woman replied to Elmaryia, looking fondly at the boy. He was sitting in a corner of the stall, hunched over a wooden crate. He appeared to be drawing something on a scrap of parchment. The woman looked back at the pair.

"Just 250 crowns a cloak, to help me and my son get by." 250 crowns?!! That was an absolutely outrageous price for a cloak, even of the finest quality. But the woman's kind smile didn't falter. She really wasn't kidding.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Something wasn't right about this whole setup, Val thought to herself as she examined the furs. This was a feeling that was intensified by the truly outlandish price that the woman quoted to her. Surely she couldn't be serious, Val thought, but it seemed that the woman wasn't making a joke.

"Erm..." Even for Val, who made more money than almost anyone else in Arakmat, that was a lot more than she wanted to drop in the bazaar for a cloak. She half-wondered if these people had recognized her as the Consul, and so were marking up the price just for her. There wasn't really any indication of that, however.

"I don't think I'm...prepared to spend that much," Val said. "That's...an awful lot of money, no? You might be...selling more if you weren't charging so exorbitantly." Her face softened a little at this point; she wasn't entirely unsympathetic to the plight of the poor, and the boy's condition in particular worried her a little.

"Do you have anything else? Something that isn't...isn't so pricey?" She cast another glance at the furs. Val couldn't immediately identify what was so odd about them, but she knew there was something unusual about the feel. Then she looked over at Elmaryia, wondering what her friend would make of the whole situation. Maybe she'd have some better insight.

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

The young woman thought that the sum for the cloaks was also quite high no matter how lavish they were. Raising a hand she felt the fur of one of the cloaks and it felt strange to her for reasons for the moment unknown to her. Nodding her head Elmaryia showed her agreement with Valanthia regarding the price. " Yes that is quite high for such garments even if they are quite lovely. I would be pleased to see something less expensive." Her face too softened and s smile curved her lips. Noticing the boy in the corner drawing she walked over towards him again she leaned down so that she was not hoovering above him. " Are you a drawer? That is a very impressive skill to have. I can not draw anything. What is it that you are drawing?" Elmaryia asked the boy softly to not startle him.

[Whisper]

The boy looked up at Elmaryia, surprised despite her gentle efforts. Wordlessly he snatched his drawing away, hiding the parchment and charcoal pencil under the crate. Even with his quick motions, Elmaryia's eyes would be able to catch a glimpse of the parchment. It appeared to be a crudely drawn map of sorts.

As the woman made to reply to Elmaryia and Val, perhaps justifying her reason for the high prices, a deep booming voice interrupted her. The source of the voice was a burly man who approached from behind the two women. He wore the standard guard uniform, like those who manned the city gates. At his hip was a sheathed curved longsword. A moustache obscured his mouth, but his scowl was apparent.

"You again!" he shouted, making the woman jump in surprise. She began to fuss with the cloaks, shoving them away from the guard. He stepped ever closer and glanced sideways at Val and Elma.

"Begging your pardon, Lady Consul, m'lady," he said to both of them respectively, "but this is a matter of the Arakmatan guard. This woman has been caught before for selling fake merchandise. You see?"

Before the woman could take away the last cloak--a rather odd selection of green-tinted leopard print--the guard snatched it up. He pulled at the green fibers with his free hand. After some resistance, the fibers came away in a clump in his hand. He waved the bundle accusingly at the woman.

"False fur," he snarled. "And I imagine she was trying to sell it to you for some exorbitant price, yes? She has done this before, and stolen a great amount of money from honest people. I assure you, it will not happen again."

Before either Val or Elma could do anything, the guard had summoned two of his fellows. They grabbed the woman--firmly, but not roughly--and began to lead her away. She babbled in Arakmatan, eyes on her tent. It was still full of her cloaks and capes, faux fur or no.

"Now, to find that money box..." the last guard, the same one who had started the whole ordeal, muttered to himself. Totally ignoring the two women, he searched under the table, his rather large behind sticking up in the air.

There was no sign of the little boy, though the bit of parchment that Elma had seen was just barely sticking out from beneath the nearby crate. The guard's head was covered by the tablecloth that served as a front to the tent.

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Well the question of what precisely was wrong with this picture was answered speedily and firmly when the guard showed up. Val inclined her head respectfully toward the guard who addressed her, but otherwise did nothing. Better to let the local law enforcement officials handle a local matter, especially if they already seemed to have a handle on what was going on.

As the guard in charge rummaged around underneath the table looking for the money box, Val glanced uncertainly at Elmaryia. Their presence no longer seemed to be required, and if Elmaryia wanted to go and do something else at the bazaar, Val would happily take her.

The girl did wonder what had happened to the little boy that had been here only moments before. Elmaryia had been talking to him. Maybe she had seen where he had gone -- or seen something else. Val didn't have a lot of sympathy for the woman who'd been hauled off, but it saddened her to see children who couldn't fight back being misused in this manner.

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

One moment Elmaryia was speaking to the boy about his drawing and then she was startled by guards and how the boy let go of the piece of parchment with a flourish and then the boy vanished. Once he was gone Elmaryia moved her foot to hopefully disloge the piece of parchement and sweep it towards her without being noticed. After all it did look like a map to some place and perhaps it would answer the mysteries of the boy and mother.

Of course Elmaryia was not pleased that the woman had decided to take advantage of herself and Valanthia but sometimes circumstances loosened ones morality. With the piece of parchment hopefully hidden under her foot. For the moment little could be done for the woman who was led away by the guards. Her main concern was finding the little boy and asking about the drawing and then reuniting him with his mother. In dire circumstances man's morals had a tendency to become blurred. While she had enough money she did not care about ill gotten coin from citizens. While the guards were distracted she leaned down and took the piece of parchment in her hands. Walking towards Valanthia she smiled at the guards. " Well thank you for comming before we made a purchase. I am also the Imperial Consul of Carmelyan and I too thank you." With that said she gently grapsed Valanthia's arm and led her away from the tent. Once they were away from the guards, Elmaryia inspected the map and showed it to Valanthia all the while keeping her eyes open for the little artist.

[Whisper]

As the woman was led away, her nonstop chattering continued. The tone was unreadable, though it was most certainly not calm, idle chatter. Was she asking about the little boy? Was she asking after her money box? In any case, the sound of her speech faded as the guards took her away.

The main guard had had little luck finding the money box, and as Elmaryia and Valanthia stepped away, he pulled himself out from under the table with a sigh. "No luck... But we'll confiscate these furs. I am sorry again that you had to witness this. I assure you, the Arakmatan guard is doing all we can to ensure fair trade in the marketplace." He touched a hand to his turban, then set off in search of more guards to help him with the large amount of furs still hanging in the tent. The surrounding vendors, selling perfume and spices respectively, went about their business as if nothing had happened. Val and Elma were left alone and to their own business at the tent.

When Elmaryia unfolded the parchment, the two women would see a smudged, barely legible... thing. Since it was written in charcoal, the mild scuffle had made the writing cloudy. It appeared to be a simple map... But would the musings of the little boy be understood by Val and Elma?

OOC:

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Val looked dubiously around the market, which seemed to have recovered quite rapidly from the excitement. Then she followed Elmaryia away from the tent and looked to see what was on the piece of parchment that her friends had snatched up.

When the girl saw the "map," she had to stifle a reflexive laugh. "Treazur," eh? Given that there was a missing money box here, however, it was possible that the juvenile artist might have actually had something real in mind. Val had little need of money, but she loved a good puzzle, and her curiosity was piqued.

Umbrosus padded silently over and looked from Val to Elmaryia and back again. Val ran her fingers through his fur, and then turned to her friend.

"Do you know what to...what to make of that?" she asked. "I mean...the gist of it is pretty straightforward, but I'm not quite sure what the...red pointy thing or the stick figure are supposed to be." Val narrowed her eyes, trying to see if squinting at the map made it make any more sense.

Although this effort wasn't successful, when she looked back at Elmaryia, there was something of a sparkle in her gray eyes. "Are you...are you up for an adventure, Elmaryia? A little bit of...of puzzle solving? I hate letting something this...intriguing go to waste, and it might be more exciting than...than going to see the Palace or shopping for jewelry."

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

OOC: lol the map is precious

INC: While she was worried for the boy he could not be found and as a result there was not much for her to do. Like her friend Elmaryia too was not concerened with the money box as her salaray was more then enough. Though she was a curious woman and the prospect of solving a puzzle and an adventure alwasy called to her. " I think the red thing is the tent where they sold the furs and and I think the stick figure is the boy." Elmaryia said with a chuckle of amusement at the boys drawing. Lifting her hand she pointed to where the word treasure was inscriped. " That black smudge to me looks as though it is a cave or a simular opening of that nature." While the young woman was quite content with shopping the prospect of solving a puzzle of the map was far more exciting. Also if it was just a drawing from a boys imagination finding that out would be just as entertaining if it was a real map.

Looking at her friend Valanthia, Elmaryia nodded her head and smiled. " I to enjoy solving a puzzle and am always up for a little adventure. Even if it s a drawing fromm his imagination it would be quite fun. I left my short sword though at your house, perhaps we should go their and get some supplies and then set out."

[Whisper]

OOC: Go ahead and stock up on supplies, weapons, etc. and list all the significant stuff you're both carrying on your person. Then we can dive back in!

[Valanthia L'Evienne]

Val nodded, and before long, they were back at the Sand Castle, preparing for what had turned into something of an impromptu adventure.

Val dressed in an unrestricting blouse, and a pair of capri-style pants that were easy to move in. Beneath them, she wore her leathers, a set of crystal-studded lingerie-style leather underamor. There was a dwarven steel stiletto strapped to each of her forearms and both thighs, and her white crystal dagger was in the sheath that rested on the small of her back.

Her gold ring was on her finger. It was enchanted, in that if she pressed her hand to it, it would take her and her bondmate instantly back to the Coldlight Citadel, in the Primus Countryside. Val didn't anticipate using it -- especially since to do so would mean abandoning Elmaryia -- but it was something she wore everywhere anyway.

She put on a pair of leather boots, and threw on a black travel cloak, given that the weather was a bit chilly. She also put some food in a small bag -- more of a satchel, really -- travel rations enough for two or three meals, and a flask of water.

Umbrosus stood at her side, ready to depart. Val double-checked to make sure everything on her person was secure, and then looked for Elmaryia. "Are you ready to go? I think I've...I've got everything I need."

[Elmaryia Grey Leonard]

The young woman had little supplies when it came to adventuring though she did have her sword and Straylor had shown her how to use it. Knowing that a dress would not be practical. Firstly Elmaryia put on her mesh body armour and then she dressed her self in a pair of brown breeches and a white tunic short sleeved blouse. Looking through her chest she found her ragged black cloak and too placed that on. After all if they were going to be puzzle solving Elmaryia did not want to wear her best and leather boots covered her slender feet.

Finding Valanthia with her sword on her hip Elmaryia nodded her readyness. " I am ready though do you have any torches or rope? We may have to go into some dark places and a torch will be excellent in lighting our way and a rope would come in handy too."

Once everything was set, the two with map in hand began to look for the clues and landmarks in the boys drawing. Both determined to solve this puzzle if indeed it was a puzzle and not just an image from a boys fantasy.