[Riverfall Location] Zhongjie Warren (Bazaar)

by **Keipecha** on May 29th, 2011, 11:57 am

The market was busy in the morning, with many people shuffling through the busy sea of tents that make up the Zhongjie Warren. Keipecha rolled the word off her tongue once more, “Zhonnnjie Wharen” playing with the pronunciations, and stretching the word out; it occupied her and kept her focused in the busy bustling street, she planned to get in and out as quickly as possible.

While she never disliked crowds, the ability that made her race exceptional trackers, also made busy streets and places with lots of movement easily confusing. Instinctively she would whip her head towards things like a merhcant shaking out a rug or someone throwing water to the ground, it made for confusing shopping.

“Zhonggjeee Warreeen”

Her accented voice sang out quietly; she had followed the flow of the crowd into the maze of tents, and wove back and forth between people, poking at this stall, talking to that merchant. Over the course of the morning, and right up to the midday bell, she acquired what she had set out to get, the makings of a small kit, which she could use to gather and store herbs, as well as two impromptu items, a tall, round basket and a soft cotton shirt to line it with, a moment later she returned to the same stall, buying a second one for herself; the winter in Riverfall was suppose to be cold.

Ledger :

by **Candira** on June 10th, 2011, 1:06 am

Season of the Summer, Day 25, 511 AV

Candira, easily fascinated with the new, was a hoarder. When she spotted an object of great design, interesting color, or pointless use, the woman flew quickly to the stall and began picking and choosing items at random. Her first day in Riverfall found the Charoda wandering the bazaar with unhidden awe. Her webbed fingers easily relinquished her monies for items, and she left, happy with a good haul.

Ledger :

by **Liandra** on April 27th, 2012, 9:42 pm

Timestamp: Spring 22, 512 AV
Time: Midday
Purpose: Shopping!

Liandra had been fretting ever since her arrival into the blue city. Mainly because of Rule 9. She'd never used a weapon before! And they wanted her to become proficient in a weapon and be ready to defend the city? From what? What would possible attack a city full of giant, trained warriors? And what help could someone like her be? But laws were laws, and Liandra found herself in the local bazaar, looking for a weapon. She had originally followed the map on her flier to The Arma'Drex Smithy, but the friendly Akalak there said that a metal weapon would be a poor choice for her. He suggested the Zhongjie Warren, and that she try to find weapons made of bone there.

After a bell of searching, she finally found a stall run by a dark, purple skinned Akalak. He had a wide assortment of the bleached white weapons. He smiled at her, his eyes lingering a bit too long on her body, "How can I help you today?" Nervous under the young man's gaze, "Well... um... I just arrived here... and um... I don't know how to use any weapons. And... um... rule nine... Hayduk sent me here..."

The man's smile brightened, "Well well well, not often do I get a reference from those smithies. I'm guessing if you're here, you're looking for something to use in Laviku's graces? Of course you are!" He chuckled lightly before continuing, "Let's see... no swords, slashing is no good underwater. No crushing either. So that leaves stabbing and thrusting, and you will want a combination of mid range and short range. Wait here one moment."

He turned to the back of his stall and began digging through supplies, then he returned with a large white pole... thing. It was long, and had three barbed tines at the head of it. She remember seeing some of them back in Charbosi, but couldn't remember their name. He handed it to her, "This is called a trident. Great on land or in sea, keeps your enemies at a distance, and if you are acrobatic enough, an amazing balance of offense and defense. It also goes well with..." He reached into a chest, and pulled out a net with a long rope leading to it. "With a barbed net. You net your opponent, then plunge the trident into them until they stop moving. It can also be used to grasp weapons or limbs."

Liandra held the weapon in front of her, surprised that it wasn't as heavy as expected. "Give it a swing." Liandra wasn't really sure what she was doing, and nearly smacked the man in the head with the shaft. He caught it in his grasp, and smiled at her. "Maybe somewhere with a bit more room." He handed her the net, and she passed him some coins, and left, not sure how to start training. Oh well, what's the worst that could happen?

Receipt :

by **Xalet** on September 16th, 2012, 4:12 am

55th of Fall, 512AV

Xuphim never really enjoyed the time consuming act of shopping. In the Knighthood it was much easier to just request the equipment you needed. Your request either got accepted, or it got denied, and that was the end of it. Having to spend his own money in order to buy goods was still fairly foreign. While the Akalak had never really had to tend to his own finances, he had never exactly made an actual wage either. Years of training and drilling, all gone buy without a Miza to his name. Now he had coin however, more so than he knew what to do with, and it was time to part with some of it.

Not of his own volition of course. Even despite being miles from his Patron, she was still the Sergeant, and she still had a number of tasks for him. It was just like the Konti Knight to keep everything written down in an orderly fashion. A pristine printed bulleted list of things to do. 'Do some fishing' was right at the top. "What the Void kind of request is this? All these seasons of getting my ass whipped and now I'm goin' fishin'?"

It had taken almost a bell to find a dedicated fishing tent. In his haste, Xuphim had wanted to find a one-stop shop for fishing supplies, but ended up burning more time looking for one than if he had taken the time to just pick the items up as he came across them. "Right...one fishing pole. One fishing kit. And why not, 10 fishing bolts. I can see this casting and waiting crap getting old real fast. Why do you do this to me Irine? Why halfway across Mizahar do you do this to me? But if I cheat, I know you'll know, freakin' Konti's and their freakin' all seeing hoo-doo crap..."

Ledger :

by **Rosela** on September 20th, 2012, 12:55 pm

Timestamp: 65th of Fall, 512AV

Rosela just didn’t know how these Akalak men could still be running around with bare chests so far into Fall. It was getting to the point where every morning she stepped outside, she shivered the entire time she was out of doors. The last truly warm days were seemingly behind them, and the cloak she’d brought with her was obviously meant for a desert autumn. Her subsequent conclusion was half excitement, half trepidation. She needed to go shopping. As much as she adored shopping, parting with her mizas was difficult.

The Bazaar had turned out, so far, to be the best place for a good deal. Apparently everyone but her was in the autumn spirit, as people meandered happily, some already in the warm clothing she should have had already.

“Warm boots! Fur cloaks! Get your winter-wear before the snow!”

Rosela immediately gravitated to the shopkeeper calling out his wares to the milling crowd. She stepped up just as another Akalak did on the other side of the tent, and the shopkeeper struck up a conversation with him in swift Tukant. She caught a word or two, but secretly thanked the other customer. Normally, she would try to charm her way to a lower price, but she was just too cold for it at the moment. His boot selection wasn’t bad. Not great either, but thankfully within her price range. Making a slow comparison in silence, she picked up her favorite pair and turned towards the checkout counter.

And there it was.

Nestled at the end of a row of ostentatious grass bear fur cloaks, was the one for her. It wasn’t a full fur cloak; just fur lined, but it was gorgeous and she needed it. One hand reached out to slide along the fur, and the shopkeeper chose that moment to step into view.

“Ah, the lady has good taste. That’s 100 percent Kevat fur you’re feeling. It’ll never grow coarse on you, and it’ll keep you as warm as a grass bear.”

Rosela leaned down and stroked the fur lining on her cheek. Catching herself, she looked up and gave the shopkeeper her best wide-eyed look of sweetness. ”How much?”

He gave her an adoring look and cocked his head. “”For you, 20, no…15 gold mizas and 5 silver. And 5 more silver for the boots, of course.”

She pretended to think about it, but her mind was already made up. ”I’ll take it.”

Walking out of the shop, warm and self satisfied, she reached to pull the tag off and saw the actual price. She stopped to turn and scowl back at the shopkeeper, but he was already busy with another customer. 15gm, 5sm was the standard price – he hadn’t given her a discount at all.

Ledger :

by **Elem Bree** on October 9th, 2012, 6:51 am

3rd of Fall, near sunset.

Elem had returned to the Bazaar later in the day after meeting Rosela. While she was mostly helpful, her constant commentary and whirling about had kept him from getting down to the business of shopping. It had been nice in way, considering he would have indeed bought drab greens and browns for his color palette, had she not intervened. Nevertheless, he had quite a few things to purchase before the season began fully. Moving from stall to stall, his attention was pointed, gleaning from things he had merely scanned over previous.

The first thing he did was go to the leatherworker and have a seat to have his feet measured precisely. He knew that general sizing was adequate, but as a cobbler's son, he also knew that having a shoe or boot fit perfectly was vital to footing and comfort. It took several minutes, but the vendor seemed to appreciate Elem's eye for detail. The price would be triple what the stock shoes and boots were, which was agreeable to the young man. While he waited, he also picked out two pairs of leather pants and two pairs of leather gloves. Finding some leather strips with strange pockets, he asked the leatherworker what they were, concerned he might be holding some sort of loincloth. He was pleasantly surprised to find they were slings, the pockets made to hold stones or lead bullets. He picked a pair up as well, thinking of the stories of Zith parties he had heard at the Society.

He moved on to the clothing stalls he had frequented earlier, greeting the tailor once more. Without nearly so much maneuvering, he purchased four pairs of canvas gloves, two pairs of wool pants and jackets. Sorting through the stalls in the vicinity, he found many orange and black striped products, supposedly made from a native animal called a grass bear. Trying on the fully furred cloak and its matching hood, he couldn't imagine a more comfortable item to don when cold winds whipped him. He purchased both.

As his purchases were being wrapped and bundled, he stopped by to check on the fitting process. Still more time needed.The leatherworker told him that many students of the Society often bought toolkits for the manyexpeditions that it sponsored. It brought a lightning bolt of memory to Elem, as he clearly recalled most of the students having the small cases. It took much inspection and explanation for him to cough up the forty five mizas for the kit, but he knew that it was worthwhile if he truly wanted to be properly equipped. Perhaps because of the nature of digging that occurred with Archaeology, he found several tools that would come in handy with his gardening at the Sanctuary and bought them too.

It was quite a bulky bundle he lumbered back to the Sanctuary, but Elem knew that everything he had bought would come in handy down the road. So down it he went.

Ledger :

by **Ronan** on November 1st, 2012, 1:12 am

The Zhongjie Warren was heaving. Physically heaving. So many people, and so many brightly coloured tents. It seemed if you looked hard enough, you could find anything within its myriad of merchants and wares. He was all the more bewildered because he had come straight from his confrontation with Kavala. The words rang in his ears.

Despite this, Ronan had been unable to find a gemcrafting toolkit. He had looked high and low, pushed and pulled among the throngs of people. But unusually, his eyes had fallen upon something else.

A shortbow. It had been a weapon that his brother had used, and yet Ronan had never tried his hand with it. His dagger was deadly, but it was small, and close range. Something to defend himself from long range, and something more useful on horseback.

He enquired on the price from the Akalak trader, and then left the market, a new shortbow and a small quiver of arrows in tow.

Receipt :

by **Leo Varniak** on November 18th, 2012, 10:33 am

6th day of Fall, 512 AV

It had been a long time. The last time Leo Zaital had been in a true, honest-to-the-gods market, the scenery around him had been that of the upper tiers in Syliras, a city he had grown up hating. Strange how memory could play tricks on you and make you remember things in a different light. Perhaps humans were built to regret, and their quest in life was for a place that wouldn't make them miss any other they'd been before. The Zhongjie Warren was still quite a bit different from the market in Syliras, though, and it took Leo some time to navigate.

Around him were so many people, each driven by their individual emotions. He was distinctly aware of the maelstrom, and it brushed against him as he walked, but they still felt alien to him in a way. The sounds of haggling, laughter, public performance fused into an indistinct whole as he walked. People were faceless lumps of feeling and fears. Here was the one who feared a scam; there, someone who was afraid of not selling enough. Some people fed each other happiness, others fed each other fear. Leo walked in their midst, familiar and stranger to it all.

He had made a mental list of what he needed. His travels had risked turned him into some sort of barbarian; the fact that he'd not even noticed his growing beard back in Kalea had left him worried. He had shaved as soon as he'd been on a ship, but the impression had been quite deep on him. It was easy to step away from the canons of civilization. It should not surprise anybody that the champion of fire held shaving in such high regard. Beards were a mark of barbarians, and, thanks to Glav, he very much believed in the power of civilization. The realization had prompted him to notice the pitiful state of his clothing. It was time to return among civil beings.

He browsed the clothing booths first. That discolored shirt and those old pants just weren't going to cut it, especially for someone who planned on speaking to the authorities. He bought three new shirts in various shades of non-color, as many pants, a leather jacket, new boots, gloves to replace the torn shame currently on his hands, a cloak and a tabard. It was nothing fancy, but at least it looked clean and functional.

Next, he had to consider his options in the event of spending a long time in the wilderness. He did not want to ever live through a repeat of his Kalea experience, which he had barely survived. A portable tent, no matter how small, was his first necessity. He considered what else he might need in the wilds. Obviously, fire and its creation would not be a problem, but food and drink could be, until he became a better hunter. His gaze fell upon a sighting glass - a device for far sight made of two lenses - and knew how useful that would be. So terribly expensive, though. In the end, he decided his survival came first and acquired the setup after a brief haggling session. For hunting, he bought two animal snares. He pondered over a water additive that would let him purify water into something he could drink, but decided against it. 'I could just boil it a couple times with magic.' He did buy a rucksack to store his new gear, however. A compass was simply out of question. He couldn't possibly afford that steep a price for a needle. He'd have to hope he would never get lost.

Weapons and armor were a tough department. Did he need weapons aside from Ivak's blade, Ivlir? He did not want to make an obvious display of the weapon, however, and it would look strange if a traveler was seen without any means of defense. He resolved to buy a plain dagger and its scabbard. And for a battle situation, some sort of armor would be a dire necessity. He'd been lucky never to have faced the kind of crisis that required some, but from now on he was not going to simply run from trouble, he was going to run into it. He bought leather armor to get even minor protection when needed.

Next off, writing supplies. There would be a lot of writing to do: Leo suspected his writings would outlast him considerably, and perhaps circulate across Mizahar when he was long gone, merely ashes in the wind. Three blank books for writing treaties and memoirs in. Quills aplenty, a lot of paper and parchment, a watertight scroll case and enough ink to put his thoughts down for posterity.

That was all, wasn't it? That was quite a burdensome shopping trip he'd done already, yet he somehow felt there was a certain something missing. Something to help him keep his Azenth turbulence down to manageable levels... something that had always made him feel calm, at peace with the world.

'Of course. A little art.'

He didn't think of it as frivolous. He thought of it as a serious investment not only for his personal mental well being but also for the success of his greater mission. He purchased an artist's kit and other supplies to fuel both his artistic and his Glyphing interests. After that final piece of business, he left the bazaar with a lighter purser but heavier assets for the future.

Ledger: :

by **Razkar** on December 8th, 2012, 7:40 pm

5th Day of Winter, 512AV

Harald was not, by nature, a shrewd businessman. He'd sort of grown into it.

His stall had been peddling inks, books and parchment for nearly ten years, growing from a single table with a slim selection to three tables, each absolutely covered with each. He'd painstakingly laid out all his goods so they caught the eye of passerby's, and while he drove a hard bargain, the human was by no means a cheat.

He was not, however, a fool. Unlike many in the bazaar, he wasn't really one for haggling. What you saw was what you got, and if you liked it, fine. If not, well, good luck to you. His hard-nosed approach was not the most successful, but it kept him, his wife and his daughter in food, clothes and board.

Harald did not want glory or fame or even riches. He simply wanted a little slice for him and his kin.

The Myrian seemed to be of a similar disposition. Harald saw him coming from half a street away, so at odds with the rest of the crowd. Tall (well, not by Akalak standards, but by human ones) and covered in tattoos, his cloak swaying over his arms, the people around him seemed to part as he stalked through the bazaar. His eyes flicked and glanced and moved constantly, searching, searching...

For Harald, apparently. Or his goods, more accurately.

Harald had heard stories of Myrians. The usual, y'know? Cannibal savages who danced naked and sacrificed small children and never washed sort of thing. But this one somewhat disappointed him. He was clothed, for one thing, looking uncomfortable in his breeches and tunic. Then again, Harald was pretty well-insulated against the chilly breeze, too, so who could blame him?

The other thing that struck him wasthat the "savage" that perused his stall had a definite intelligence to his stare, looking carefully at each item... and selecting each one in turn.

A leather-bound book with blank pages.

A vial of black ink.

A new quill.

Then he laid all three in front of Harald and cocked an eyebrow. The running-to-fat human scratched his chin and barely had to do the math. He'd been doing this for a while, and knew his prices, mark ups and costs to the copper.

"Five gold and five copper, sir."

The Myrian rummaged through his pockets and counted out the money. Then he frowned. Apparently he did not have enough coppers... but...

He reached out his hand, containing five gold mizas and two silver pieces. Now, Harald was not dishonest, by any means, and while he would not overcharge a customer, it was quite another for one to actually offer him the money...

"Um..." he said, cursing himself for his honesty "... are you sure?"

A curt nod was all the permission he needed, and Razkar was amazed at the speed the humans hand struck out and snatched the coins. Within a blink they were gone and his goods were wrapped up. He took his purchases and bowed in thanks to the merchant.

"Have a good day!"

"Thank you."

Harald watched the Myrian go, watched the crowd part again as he walked through it, watched him vanish down the winding stairs down to the lower tier. He shook his head. And they said you never met anyone interesting as a book seller?

ReceiptBlank Book = 3gm
Black Ink (1oz) = 2gm
Quill = 2sm

by **Kavala** on April 22nd, 2013, 7:03 am

Timestamp: Early Spring, 513 AV

Kavala walked the Warren, carefully shopping. She was looking for a few unique items that might take her mind off some of the things going on at The Sanctuary and give her a change of pace. Kavala needed a new project, a new distraction, something to take her mind off foaling this season and all the other difficulties the spring would bring.

Carefully shopping, Kavala browsed from booth to booth, looking at first one display then another. Nothing seemed to catch her eye. She wandered on, pausing to get a quick meal at a vendor that sold delicious vegetable pies. After lingering over seat tea and the pie, she kept walking, turning down a corridor in the Warren she'd never been down before. At the end of the row, just as she was turning the corner, she found a vendor that caught her eye. It was an instrument maker. She slipped into the booth and ran her hands lightly over the drums and harps that lined the booth. At the far end, slightly in the corner, was a display of woodwind instruments. She paused there, staring at them, and finally letting her eyes settle on a flute. It was deeply engraved with rose and green stone, sporting an eagle head on its top. It wasn't the type of flute she'd seen others playing in the squares. Instead it was a flute that was more drykas in origin.

She smiled, ran her hands lovingly over it, and picked it up. A voice at her right elbow gently urged... "Try it." An old Drykas woman was beckoning. Kavala nodded, placed the mouth piece against her lips, and closed her fingers over the finger holes. Gently blowing, she produced a clear pure note. A peace filled her immediately. And she turned, smiled at the woman, and asked carefully after removing the instrument from her mouth.

"How much?" In pavi, the woman smiled, gestured to the plain wooden ones and declared they were five silver Mizas. The gemstone eagle one, however, and the others like it, were much higher. Ten gold. Kavala nodded, pulled the Mizas out of her pocket, and quickly paid for the purchase with a quiet thank you. The woman took the flute from her, gently wrapped it up after slipping it into a velvet bag, and handed it back.

The Konti thanked her with a smile and left, heading home after her long walk.

the Flute :