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 Posted: Tue May 04, 2021 10:17 am
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Thom had not been asleep long when he heard what he rarely did, a voice talking... specifically, the familiar voice of Jaeger, the head guard of the cellar. His first thought was that the guard wasn't there for him, after all he had all but felt he was left to rot away where he was. Even the fauns tasked with giving him just barely enough food and water to keep him alive seemed begrudged to even be doing that. He settled his head back down on the packed dirt that served as the angel's pillow, closing his eyes as Jaeger taunted Faroth in his own cell intent to go to sleep once more.
He had barely closed his eyes when Jaeger's voice indicated just how close he was to his own personal cell. He sat up with the shabby thin blanket wrapped over his shoulders just barely in time for the folded parchment bird to smack him square in the forehead. He picked it up and opened it, like when the faun tried to read his notes it was all jibberish to him. But if the page was important as Jaeger was saying he told himself... he probably should keep it.
As Jaeger opened the bars to his cell the weary angel stood and pulled the fabric closer, "I see" he replied weakly to what he was being told. With a slow nod Thom walked over to where he kept his rolled up 'journal' and collected it. It wasn't like the pae had really much of anything so it and the thin blanket was really all he headed towards the entrance with. Approaching Jaeger, Thom took the satchel from him and looked into it, "Thanks" he said quietly noting its contents. He held it close after adding the two parchments into it.
Thom silently followed the guards towards the exit with a brief glance back at what had been his residence for so many moons. Jaeger had not mentioned at all Amadorine, and Thom himself had pretty much given up on ever seeing her again with her lack of visits to him. He never failed to admit to himself he still loved her, and he didn't really understand why she never came but, there was little if anything he could do about it.
Thom kept his head low, his long bangs hiding his face as he was led out of the Tree, he winced as the sun hit his eyes and he dug out the sunglasses he had been given. With a final look past the guards into the Tree, Thom pull the fabric closed and trudged his way across the bridge onto the grass. He stopped and took a breath, it had been so long since he'd been outside that it was like when he had woken from being a statue so many seasons ago. He walked out straight across the grass, by nightfall he had reached the sand of Pae'kippu beach, some distance from him he could just see a village, he made a point to avoid getting too close to it. He moved left following the edge of the beach and by the time the moon was high in the sky he was nearing the last patch of trees which he decided to use as shelter for the night and try to get some sleep.
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 1:52 pm
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The sun was just rising over the surface of the Tuatha'ri as a lone wagon prepared to continue onwards. It was just day two of what would be a couple of weeks on the route, but it was also the first to be sourced from Koehaira itself. As such, it was important that they made good impressions, but that they also didn't set a unfavorable precedent with the other villages going forward. One couldn't use the same methods for larger exchanges as they did from vendor to individual.
Much to Masozi's chagrin, Coracias was here to show his grandson the ropes - he was here with her to learn all he could about bartering with larger volumes, the mannerisms expected of merchants and how to plan ahead to effectively manage stock, stamina, and space.
It was the last of these that she was demonstrating right now as she worked out the details of their return trip with the trade representative of Sunrise Terrace, Aulii. She handed him a piece of naiad parchment, useful considering their proximity to the Lake, that detailed what they wished to pick on on the return trip. "Please have the agreed-upon volume of fish, shellfish, and glass ready for us when we return in the next 7-10 days, weather-permitting - refer to order as to the specifics regarding each. As we discussed yesterday, we have left 2 emptied barrels to facilitate the movement of these items along with 2 barrels of wine and a barrel of olive oil." She smiled pleasantly, but her eyes were calculating. "And please enjoy the bottled spirits as a personal token of goodwill - I assure you such an item is not regularly found in the market."
"I do hope our villages can mutually benefit from this relationship going forward." She glanced back at Cosme to ensure he was taking note of her methods before continuing. "Would you like us to procure anything from Zamarad for our return trip?"
Once they finished with these final negotiations, she and Cosme would continue on their path... and that couldn't happen soon enough! Cora hated having to speak and act so... mercantile, for a lack of better word. Once they were on the cart, she could at least take a momentary breather.
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 8:59 pm
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Aulii looked the parchment over, following along with the words the pretty angel spoke before setting the parchment on a nearby shelf. He grabbed his own parchment, attached to a plank of wood, and took a few notes, adjusting the inventory appropriately. He personally was looking forward to getting to try out these spirits, but they needed to be recorded none the less.
Aulii moved around, "Just a moment..." He said calmly, pulling from another pile of parchment. "Zamarad... Zamarad... Yessssss... If you are able to bring us back some raw clay, that would be greatly appreciated." The male moved back over to the small group of pae, looking the female in the eyes. "Everything else should be ready on your return. I look forward to seeing you again." It took all of his will power not to drop his tone to a more sultry voice and wink at her, but he had only recently been lectured about his need to be appropriate when handling official business.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 9:33 am
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"Clay? A bit bulky... but assuming all goes well there, should not be an issue. We may need to procure some pots or canvas locally as well to transport it, so keep that in mind. We will bring you the invoice of the cost of the goods on our return, but consider the transportation a bit of friendly service from one neighboring village to the next." She smiled wryly before glancing back at Cosme, checking to see if he'd finished writing everything down. If not, she only needed to update him once they were moving.
The sun had nearly crested over the lake's surface at this point, so if they continued this much longer, they'd find themselves behind schedule.
Offering a handshake, she sealed the deal with a, "As do we - thank you for your patronage, and do take care," before turning to get onto the cart with Cosme.
It was once they were out of eyesight that she gave a loud yawn and stretch before taking a distinctly less-refined seating position. She was practically slouching over... actually no, she certainly was doing just that. Glancing up at the lad, she yawned again and feigned no disinterest in the morning's proceedings. "You get all that from this morning?" While she didn't need to write any of it down on account of her memory, he'd need to take care to not miss a single aspect. "Lemme know if you're not sure 'bout any of it and I'll fill you in. Good Guardians, dealing with all this so early is such a massive paaaaaaain..."
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 9:50 am
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To say that Cosme was excited for this journey was a bit of an understatement. He loved to travel, and he hadn't been to Zamarad in ages. His work typically took him to the City, Sunrise Terrace here, or the faun farm, as those were the shortest trips. Plus, he was thrilled to hone his craft--he knew that these trade trips were a lot different than the straight, direct-to-consumer sales he typically did. Getting to know Masozi's new ~girlfriend~ (he'd about gotten swatted when he'd called her that to Masozi's face) was just an added bonus.
He'd taken good notes while Coracias had chatted with Aulii, both for content (to remember what they were bringing back), and for quality (to make note of how Coracias dealt with the merchant. And now he was also happy to relax a little on the cart, leaning against a full barrel to rest his back. "Got it," he agreed, tapping his notebook. He chuckled at her whining--Cosme himself was certainly more of a morning glory than she--and looked out over the cart side. How long d'you think it'll take us to get to Zamarad?" he asked. |
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 10:00 am
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He got it? Good. That made her job easier.
Honestly, if she wanted to go to Zamarad, she could have just flown there. Knowing her wings, it probably would have taking less than a day and just a single go... but this would benefit her new home as well and help her integrate just a bit more with the locals. Not like it was her first time doing so - heck, she'd discovered Koehaira from such a trip in Kekomura's caravan.
She was just lucky that this dapper young lad seemed to have as good a head on him as his grandfather - she just could NOT with idiots or those too arrogant to learn.
"Mmmm..." she mused a bit as she glanced upwards at the brightening sky - soon the colors of sunrise would give way to just a vast expanse of blue. "If I remember the route correctly... perhaps three days more?" She closed her eyes to replay what she knew from looking at one of their old maps and nodded. "Yes, about three days, best-case scenario. There should be a spot among some trees once the path approaches the Quiet Woods for us to make camp tonight." Still, though, she glanced over with a brow raise. "This ain't the first time you've traveled there though, right? I'd think you'd know the distance better than me."
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 11:01 am
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 12:59 pm
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The sun had begun its decent on the horizon when Cora motioned to a coming bend in the path. "We should be able to find a decent spot to camp for the night once we head into the wood line. I have heard there have been an increase in harpy sightings nearby, though, so we should keep an eye out not to get in their way." She honestly wasn't a fan of camping outside - it was part of the reason she'd come to prefer to stay away from trading ventures - but it couldn't be helped when one had cargo. "
Some more time passed before they reached the curve. "Yeah, here'll do. Just try to find some place in the woodliiiiiiiine..." her sentence caught in her throat as she noticed a particularly haggard-looking daemon near the road. Ugh... He had def seen better days.
Raising a hand, she tried to catch his attention as she called out, "Yo, how you doing this fine evening. Mind if set up nearby for the night..." A pause and a shrug, "...Well, we're gonna do it regardless, so its really whatever"
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:53 am
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Cosme pulled himself up from where he'd been lounging against some barrels to get a look at what had caused the normally-very-articulate Coracias to trail off mid-sentence. Woof. "Medea*, this guy looks rough," he said softly to Cora.
He didn't look like he was going to be a problem, though, and Cosme couldn't help but pity the guy. "Hey, man," he called, leaning over the edge of the cart. "You okay?"
((*He's invoking the Redeemer Guardian Medea, please read this in the tone of someone saying "Christ, this guy looks rough"))
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