Paper Money [Open]

[Avaltri]

Spring 71 of 512 AV OOCModerators are invited to throw in an NPC if they feel like it. Avaltri sat - although the bipeds would probably have said she lay - on the ground on one side of one of the main streets that led through the town away (or towards) the harbor. Some pencil drawings were laid out before her, standing on their head from her perspective, so that passers-by could have a look at them. The Akvatari was hoping that by now, people would again be interested in such things as art, after for most of the season, they had been preoccupied with things that were apparently more necessary to them. Avaltri didn't do anything in particular to attract attention. She trusted that her unusual appearance and the fact that her race was known for being artists would be enough to draw to her those with favorable inclination, and everybody else would ignore her anyway. And she let her drawings speak for themselves. Most of them, she had brought from Abura and had not found occasion to sell yet due to the djed storm. There were a few that showed architecture from Abura, most of them from a perspective that, due to their earth-boundedness, would forever be inaccessible even to such people as might take on themselves the journey from here to Abura. Then there were two that depicted the upper half of a female Akvatari with her wings, and without even as little clothing as the Akvatari wear: one from the front, and the other from slightly behind the left side. The model had been Avaltri's sister. The two weren't especially close, but it would have been considered very rude of the older sister not to assist in the artistic aspirations of her sibling by doing so little as sitting for a few drawings. And finally, there were two that depicted ancient architecture from Zeltiva itself; one of the university from a slightly above angle, and one of the scholar's forum, viewed from the ground, but, interestingly, containing not only the one part that was still standing, but also imaginations of the three others. None of her pictures was particularly rich in shade or texture. Avaltri tried to capture everything in shape, and so they consisted of clean lines, though often not quite straight and geometric lines. Seeing the stream of people flow past gave Avaltri a curious feeling of comfort. She enjoyed her strangeness to these people, her solitary position - it felt right. Like many of her kin, Avaltri could just sit in a place for a long time and think the same thought or feel the same emotion all over again, as if bathing in it. And so she did with this one.

[Anselm]

As was his custom most mornings, Anselm made his way toward his fortune-teller tent. The old man walked with a mild limp for which he compensated with a black cane. On this particular morning he had gotten off to a late start and was shuffling along as quickly as he could when an unusual sight brought him to a halt. An Akvatari! He thought to himself. Not something one sees every day. He walked over to the woman-bird-fish and said, “Good day, my dear. What brings you to the … oh my ...” He saw the drawings and was quite taken by them. He recognized some of Aruba, a city he had not visited in several hundred years. But what really caught his attention were the nudes. “My dear,” he said. “These nudes are beautifully rendered. May I?” He picked one of them up and examined it more closely. “Clean, simple lines. I like that.” OOC : Is this your income-earning business?

[Ndale Soromund]

It was a few strange things Ndale had seen. In Zeltiva many types came and yet, every time she was amazed by what races ended up there. First there were the blue-eyed humans then the Konti, the regular humans, Kelvics and then the walking dead man and now—now there was even a fish woman. At least, she looked like a fish woman; the lower half of her body was covered by the tail of some animal. How curious! And low and behold there was Anselm as well. What precisely was it that they were doing? Stepping closer she found that he was inspecting a drawing. It was a pretty thing with a creature resembling the woman in front of her. Upon reaching the group Ndale decided to try a ‘normal conversation’. It was a sudden decision really, originally she had a barrage of questions she wanted to fling at the woman but seeing more than one person there stilled her tongue. Today she would try her hand at the type of speaking more present with people you did not know. But it was probably not completely her own choice, an inkling of wariness was present. As of the late even her good natured questions were shunned, better to ‘test the waters’. “Hello.” Ah, now she knew why she started with questions, there was really nothing to say when you did not know someone. It was only once you knew them could you converse freely. “Anselm you will buy the picture?” It was a very pretty picture, in fact given the few pictures she had seen as of the late it suddenly look very nice indeed. And from her untrained eye the picture itself was quite beautiful if not a little hard to see. “…what are you?” She had been intending to ask how much the drawing was but her urge to know won out, so much for ‘normal conversation’.

[Avaltri]

Avaltri was taken out of her musings when an old man unexpectedly addressed her. She had half-consciously observed him hurry along the street, and the fact that he had quite suddenly turned and walked straight to her quite suddenly took her by surprise. She was just about ready to answer to his greeting when his attention was caught by her pictures. A smile appeared on Avaltri's face as he looked down, straight at the two most valuables ones. She nodded when he asked to be allowed to pick one up to have a closer look. "Thank you. I daresay they do have some merits." Avaltri was quite aware that these pictures stood out from the others, though in thinking that, she was perhaps sensitive to other things than most of those who passed by. These two nude pictures were certainly artistically much more valuable than the drawings of architecture. They had a value in themselves, they had allowed for expression of her creativity. The architectural drawings, on the other hand, where almost wholly dependent on the architecture itself. They had been interesting studies to Avaltri, but they were not a creation of hers in nearly the same sense. There was still a justification for selling them. After all, they depicted aspects that were usually hidden for most people. But now that Avaltri thought of it, it really would be quite pathetic, going on to sell only drawings of architecture. She resolved to change that and find opportunities to draw people; or better yet, learn to draw from imagination. Not that Avaltri making a resolve meant all that much. Just as the Akvatari was about to mention the price of the picture, she heard another greeting and found herself looking at a woman of rather extraordinary appearance. Something seemed wrong about nature allowing herself such extravagance. It amused Avaltri that she looked as if she had jumped out of a painting by someone who found natural color schemes too unimaginative. "Hello", she responded simply. Avaltri noticed that the woman approached the picture quite closely, as if she couldn't see very well. So she picked up the second nude picture and handed it to her so that she could examine it after her fashion. "If you maybe want to have a closer look..." she said. But the woman seemed to have quite a different interest for a moment and inquired about Avaltri's kind. It wasn't entirely unexpected, and met with a gentle smile. "I am of a race called Akvatari... The children of the sea and the sky, and, as you can see, not quite accustomed to this soil."

[Anselm]

“Ndale Soromund!” said Anslem. “I see your arm is healing nicely. And it appears you have thus far escaped becoming anyone's dinner. I am pleased.” He was surprised to discover that he really was pleased to see her. “And this young Akvatari,” he nodded toward the artist, “comes from the city of Aruba on the island of Akvatar. As you can see from some of her drawings, it is a lovely city, albeit a bit difficult to get around in if you lack wings.” He turned his attention back to the Akvatari. “A few questions, if I may. Three to be exact. First, what brings you to Zeltiva? It is certainly a long way from home for you. Second, how much would it cost me to become the proud owner of this fine drawing?” He held up the drawing of a nude woman viewed from the side. “Third, is this a drawing of yourself? There is a resemblance, unless my poor old eyes have deceived me.”

[Avaltri]

Avaltri looked amused as Anselm spoke to Ndale. "Indeed, it is true what you say." She let sink the arm with which she had offered the picture to the woman, who hadn't taken it. Avaltri wasn't particularly surprised that the old man had seen Abura. In fact, it had surprised her more that she had met several people who had not seemed to know anything of the existence of Akvatari, even though this was the city from which the most travelers came to Abura. "Since I have gathered both your names, I suppose it would be fair to tell you mine. I'm Avaltri." Suddenly, she realized that she had quite forgotten to sign the drawings. "As for your questions... If you'll allow, I'll begin with the last one: It was my sister who sat for the picture; for both of them, in fact." After a moment's pause, she extended her hand and asked: "Excuse me, may I just have it back for a moment?" When Anselm handed it to her, she took out a pencil and wrote her name in the lower right corner of the sheet. She used clear capital letters, but with rounded shapes and no sharp edges, so that they still weren't any ordinary script. "Is it worth ten gold mizas to you?", she asked. OOC : I hope you don't mind that I assumed Anselm would hand her the picture.

[Ndale Soromund]

Ndale found herself smiling at the deceivingly old looking man. “No, humans are eating human food again!” Falling silent she listened and watched as both Anselm and the young woman explained what she was and where she was from. Carefully storing away the knowledge for use at a later date. Fish people. There seemed to be many types, almost as many as the types on land. Perhaps more would appear thanks to the storm? Ah! That reminded her. “Are you from the djed storm?” But she did not wait for an answer, instead testing the girl’s name. It was a strange name with the syllables blending together and making it difficult for her to say. Still is sounded pretty if nothing else and it suited the woman for she was pretty as well. So entranced by attempting to say the woman’s name in both Kontinese and Common that she nearly missed the beginnings of the ‘sale’. Focusing she watched the two silent, for the moment. In most stores she had been to, prices were set but the way Avaltri questioned Anselm made Ndale wonder if they would do the other thing. Was it called borrowing or battering? Bartering? Yes. That was the one, bartering. Deciding she wanted to play this human game as well Ndale chimed in her own price “I would pay twelve gold miza!”

[Anselm]

The old man turned his attention back to Ndale. He was struck again by her bright red eyes, her short white hair and her short attention span. What are you up to, my dear? He wondered to himself. Then he realized that she was trying to insert herself into a very human transaction, namely, a negotiation over the price of the drawing. Mystery solved. No longer interesting. However, he did want the drawing and there was no telling how high Ndale would go. Perhaps a little diversion. “My dear Ndale,” he said. “You really should get yourself a broad-brimmed hat for bright days like this. It would protect your head and face from the sunlight.” He pointed toward the center of the marketplace. “I believe I saw some straw hats for sale over there.” Turning back to Avaltri he repeated the question that had drawn him to her in the first place. “And what is it that brings you to Zeltiva?”

[Avaltri]

Avaltri hadn't noticed Ndale's curious attempts to pronounce her name, but when the red-eyed woman voiced her offer for the picture, the Akvatari looked at her in surprise. She hadn't expected that, but smiled encouragingly at Ndale. She was about to say something as the old man made a seemingly unrelated remark about straw hats. Avaltri felt an unusual kind of sympathy for his desire for the particular picture he had set his eyes; there was nothing of pity in it, she just liked this need for the beautiful, if she could go so far as to call her drawing that. She thought that she would probably sell it to him anyway. "I may point out, though, that for the time being, there is another picture here very much like this one..." she then observed, directed at neither Anselm nor Ndale specifically. Giving the woman time to ponder straw hats and drawings, the Akvatari turned back to Anselm. "Ah, yes, the third question", she said, amused by the man's insistence, . "I am here for the university. Some disciplines are taught here whose practice has gone into decline in Abura. In particular, architecture. Abura just is - it doesn't grow."

[Ndale Soromund]

Shaking her head Ndale grinned all too broadly at Anselm, “It is not warm enough to injure me…yet.” “I would very much be wanting this picture.” Her voice was insistent but softening at the end to pay attention to young woman’s explanation of a place she could not truly fathom. Looking at the other picture she realized that while it was pleasing she mostly wanted the other picture because Anselm wanted it. Watching the two discuss she felt a tad out of place, it was such a human thing. Cocking her head she eyed the other young woman’s tail. “You swim pretty good, yes?” Walking forward Ndale reached forward to touched the woman’s tail but quickly retracted her outstretched arm, turning sharply she made as if to leave. She stopped just as abruptly and stood a more respectable distance back, “May I touch your tail? You can paint a picture I ask?” She wasn’t sure why the idea struck her suddenly but she now wanted a certain picture. Nadle reached into her pocket and pulled out her coin purse. Huh. It was lighter than usually. She would need to get a ‘job’ soon. What an interesting prospect! “I would pay.”