Open [The Serpent's Elixer] What's your poison?

[Corneliun]

4th Winter 512
The Serpent's Elixer: Mid-morning- Close to the 13th Bell

It was neither hot nor cold, the air still, pleasant in comparison to the summer heat that held onto the land. The damp and that held onto Ahnatep in the night had been swallowed up by the sun, warming the surrounding desert sand and setting it to a warm glow. Comfortable and not at all taxing on the body, a time of year that Corneliun preferred above the other season. There was no need to race for shade and to find a breeze in order to cool. Corneliun rolled his shoulders, ensuring his coat did not roll off his shoulders, his left hand resting on the top of his sword scabbard. His eyes seemed to sharpen as he came close to his destination, his back straightening, a strong stride as he stepped into the Pavilion market.

To many this man would of seen alien to Ahnatep, a foreigner, pale skin, dark haired, a look of a human and one that perhaps had seen very little of the outside world. But then the question of why he dressed like a local would come to mind, was he new to the lands? Far from it, he had lived in these lands for over a decade, and this place was now his home, despite the racism that came with it. Not that stopped him, he had after all adjusted to their ways quickly and without argument, not that it stopped his own personality growing. And so this pale man brushed shoulder to shoulder with locals, his brow knitted, a focused look growing on his face. He had worn it for many days now, unbroken not once relaxing. For those few that knew him would know the reason, those who did not would just presume something weighed upon his mind.

He listened carefully to the words of the merchants, to their words spoken in both Common and Arumenic, two languages that he had grown accustomed to over his youth, before winding his way through. He heard the shouts of wares, of selling the better price, of oils and textiles, and the scuffle of the Jackals as they encroached upon a blatant thief. He paid them no mind, they were doing their duty, and he was going to do his. Corneliun entered the the Serpent's Elixer, paying no mind to the Dhani that found enjoyment in bullying his customers into drinking concoctions. Although again he looked alien in this cramped space, he let them roll off him, not a care in the world in what they thought.
"Sssssso, what issss your dea-"
"Your latest poison," he did not give the bar keep time to finish "Now."
An elixir was placed before him, a dark red liquid, slimy and gelatinous in appearance as well as texture. It was a drink the man was familiar with, the Lash. He paid, and huddled round a low table, mulling over his drink for a moment, before sipping the vile liquid he was far too use to. His face however still winced, a reaction he had yet to stop, but it was for the better- it showed the brewer he was doing his job. He paused, inhaling and raised it slightly before muttering under his breath, "A toast to you old man."

[Sebastion]

Coming back from his trip to the temple, and perched precariously atop Snowflake, the Pycon was nearly knocked from his place upon her back when she caught scent of whatever was inside the large tent. A skinny man stood outside, hawking his beverages to anyone that came close enough to be yelled at Ssssomething with a little kick isss jusst what you need." Shim trotted up, letting Snowflake go where she willed, and two green eyes, glinting with flecks of brown and gold peered down in open disgust at the Pycon. What doesss the clay thing want? It doesss not drink my brewsss." Shim nodded in agreement, Peeking into the shadowed depths of the tent with curiosity to what lay within. "You have that right, good sir. Shim doesn't drink much unless its liquified clay, but Snowflake here...I suspect that she wants a drink." It took the Dhani a moment, bright eyes glancing at the dog a long moment before looking extremely incredulously at the Pycon. "It will feed itsss pet the drink? Isss that sssome sssort of joke?" If it was the Dhani didn't seem amused, but Shim was not joking. "Snowflake can take whatever you can throw at her...or rather give to her in a container from which she can lap it from." Though Lanendiarasssken looked tempted to pick the tiny clay thing up and chuck it across the street, Hajirah came to Shim's rescue in that moment, bringing a small viper equivalent bowl of a strangely vibrant yellow liquid, placing it before the dog. "That will be one sm, please sir." Hajirah may not have thought highly of the Pycon, but she wasn't about to turn away another customer on Lanendiarassken's account. Shim handed the girl the money and Snowflake took a tentative sniff of the liquid in the bowl before giving it an experimental lap, she coughed and spluttered and Shim glanced about in alarm. "What is it?" "Jackal's Piss." Was the swift response from no one in particular, and Shim was horrified at what he had just paid a silver miza for, not for one moment considering a potential play on words. Before Hajirah could console the clay man, or he could coax Snow away from the clearly foul beverage, the dog began hungrily lapping the rest of the liquid up, and even Lanendiarasssken, while not impressed, had to say he'd seen few individuals able to down the foul liquid so rapidly.

[Corneliun]

Corneliun observed the entry of the Pycon with the hound on which he rode upon. He could see the Dhani glaring down at the tiny clay man, questioning his entry before a scowl grew across his face. The two at the moment seemed to be at a disagreement, as if an arguement was to break out, and something Corneliun was not ready to participate in. He took another sip of his 'poison', his face creasing, his brow wincing slightly. It may of done the job and getting people intoxicated; but by the gods it tasted rough. He placed the glass down on the table and watch Hajirah present a bowl to the riding dog that entered with the Pycon. He took another sip, but this time he did not wince, he was being entertained by the reaction the dog 'Snowflake' made as it tried to drink the vile liquid.
"What is it?"
"Jackal's Piss."
His lip curled for a moment, finding a sense of amusement in the naming. It most certainly did taste of piss after all, a flavour that he was far too familiar with. Corneliun watched the concern growing in the Pycon's face, the want to try and lead his precious mount away, perhaps not realising that it was indeed only a nickname and that no real harm would come to the creature.

He lowered his glass, looking down at the half-filled contents, mulling over the rest of the liquid. It was an acquired taste to say the least, but an acquired taste he had. He always would remember his father's reaction to the drink, the coughing and spluttering, only to be followed by going red in the face and a beg for something less vile to replace it. But that was now years ago, and times had changed, along with its people. His eyes slid back over to the Pycon and his dog, and watched the thirst force him to guzzle down the liquid. It would be interesting to see how this 'Snowflake' would react to the contents, once he had finished. He raised the glass up to his eye level, studying it before downing the rest of the liquid. It took him a lot of focus not to cough and maintain a relatively cool expression, even with his eyes watering slightly.
"Alcohol," he paused as if mulling over the words in his mind “It provokes the desire and the act, but it takes away the performance and ruins the play.”
He gave a grin to himself, the effect already creeping in, his eyes becoming slightly bright, but one more would not hurt him.
"Hajirah! My little Bine," he gave a teasing look to her in which she responded with a disapproving frown. He always teased people, to make a joke, to entertain, and those few he knew simply humoured him. Corneliun gave her a broad grin and shook the empty glass at her "Another?"

[Sebastion]

Snowflake swallowed down the beverage, Shim looking on with abject horror, and then he felt the riding dog's body sort of pulsate beneath him. He looked up like a worried mother at Hajirah. "Will she be alright?!" The Eypharian glanced at the Pycon with an expression filled equally with amusement and pity. "She'll be better than fine little clay one." Before Shim could truly puzzle through the intricacies of this sentence, which to him was rather cryptic, Snowflake barked. Now a dog barking should not be an alarming thing. Dogs have voice boxes, and they were put there for a purpose, yet Snowflake did not bark. She was a trained and obedient steed that only made noise in dire emergencies or to help pinpoint her companion, letting him know where she was if they got separated. This noise was not under any of those circumstances, and Shim was simply taken aback. Next Snowflake began to turn in circles, yipping and chasing her tail, leaping into the air periodically. Shim clung for dear life onto the edge of her saddle pad as his mount rocked and rolled beneath him, and soon the Pycon and his canine were the attention of the entire tent, the dog loud and excited, the Pycon screaming in a voice that seemed too loud and too deep for something so tiny, for the dog to cease her actions. What a fine situation Shim had landed himself in this time. It was at about that point that Snow bucked one too many times and Shim was thrown bodily from his perch into the depths of the tent, slamming against a counter with a wet smack right next to Cornelium. With a groan the clay thing fell to the dusty ground face first. There were a few ticks of absolute stillness before the thing began collecting itself. Meanwhile, the dog was chewing on the edges of the tent and repelling any attempt of the Dhani to make her let go of it.

[Corneliun]

Corneliun watched the Pycon soar across the room, his tiny clay body crumpling as he fell to the floor. For a moment all previous thoughts had escaped the mind of the man, the ideas of alcohol and its consumption being the main idea. His head cocked to one side, as the dog began to run riot. He could see the tent getting out of control, the loud barks over the noise of customers. He lowered his empty glass, letting it clink onto the table top before truly focusing his attention on the Pycon.
"Never knew Pycon's could fly," Corneliun extended his fingers down and gently pushed the Pycon up, a slight sarcastic tone hanging in the back of his voice. For a moment he gave a grin "Looks like you need a hand. Name's Corneliun"
He gave a nod to Snowflake, watching the dog proceed to gnaw on the table leg, with the Dhani obviously having trouble with the creature. He stood, a flash of confidence filling his face, or perhaps to many complete and utter ignorance. A dog after all could not be that hard to deal with, even in its more stimulated nature.

Corneliun stroked at his stubble as he walked over to the hound, his brow frowned with thought. He sidled up beside it extending at first his hand before tapping the side of Snowflake.
"Hey, this uh, Snowflake doesn't bite right?" he said as he reached out again this time to try and grab the dog's attention. He knew little about animals, except the common sense of not to try and pet them whilst they look angry. Snowflake however looked more playful than some beast that was about to turn savage, Right?

[Sebastion]

Shim suddenly found his body propelled upwards by the digits of a foreigner. An interesting observation since Shim was in fact a foreigner himself, but he took in the man's pale colored skin and lack of extra appendages. "Cornelium..." He liked the taste of the sound in his clay mouth. It was a masculine name no doubt, but Sebastion Hyacinth Isabella Mordecai, had an appreciation for the masculine and the feminine, as would be clear from his outward female appearance, yet his rather male nature. He liked the 'um' the best that came after Corneli. It was a decisive ending to a short yet elegant name, and though Shim liked pretty much any name thrown his way, this one sat well with him, even considering his current plight. "Shim counts his meeting you as a pleasure." Parts of the Pycon that had been squashed in the landing began reforming to make the new four armed and elegant Eypharian woman he had taken to wearing. He glanced around to see that Snowflake was gnawing on a table leg and the perhaps inebriated man was approaching her. Before Shim could explain that Snow would certainly not bite the man, the dog's ears perked up, and coal black eyes assessed the figure before her, mouth separating from the wood on which her teeth had gnawed sections into. By this time the Pycon was the talk of the tent. Despite the fact that this was a place of people from all climbs to inhabit, he could still feel the demeaning looks and comments thrown his way, bouncing lightly off hardened clay skin. As this was occurring however, Cornelium would find himself being bodily attacked by the massive form of the sled dog, a whole 200 lbs leaping onto his chest. At first it may have seemed with the intent to harm, but no sooner did Snow's face come towards the man's then she began to furiously lick his face, another trait seriously out of character with the normally mild mannered and placid riding companion Shim had come to known. "Snow!" The Pycon cried, as if his call would somehow alter this series of events.

[Corneliun]

It was for a moment a stare down, man against dog, his dark green eyes locking with the creature, resisting to look at the mad beating tail. He straightened, letting his mind sober up as the panting dog rose up onto her hind legs and launched herself at him. He braced, arms wide ready to catch the creature.
Can't be that heavy right? was the last foolish thought that went through his mind.

Of course, Corneliun was not expecting the dog to be so heavy. He gave a stagger, barely holding onto Snowflake as slobbered over his features. He rolled his head way in an attempt to escape, his foot taking a step back and slipping on the floor. He gave a shout, his arms flailing in the air as he felt himself go backwards, with the heavy dog following shortly after him. He landed with a loud thud, his head cracking against the floor. He winced as the hold of alcohol vanished, and the dog still lapped at his face.
"Snow!" Shim shouted out, in an attempt to calm the dog. But this hyperactive being would be far from the idea of listening to her master's wishes. She seemed far to set on play, so that's what Corneliun did.

He reached his hands up grabbing the sides of the dog, rubbing at them as he tried to smother down a laugh. His fingers grasped onto the saddle of the riding dog, before he drew in a deep breath. For once the mixed race man was pleased for his Isurian blood, it gave him strength to lift this ridiculously heavy dog off of him. He focused, his eyes narrowing as he took a firm hold of Snowflake, and lifted her off him, his broad arms for a moment shaking before taking on the weight of the dog. He watched it squirm for a moment, but a big grin formed on his face.
"You should listen to your boss Snowflake," although he sounded friendly, his tone was firm and assertive. He glanced back at the pycon "I think I got her."

[Sebastion]

Snowflake squirmed and writhed in the mixed blood's grip, tongue lolling, tail wagging. Shim dashed foward, dull eyes frantic. "SNOW!" It was a very rare occurance for the Pycon to use the full volume of his voice, and even rarer for him to use it upon his companion. It came out as a booming baritone that filled up the entire tent, bits of sound waves leaking out the open front. Silence filled the room after he screamed, and the sled dog seemed to come back to herself a little. Her body still hummed with energy, and her tail beat like a drum against the air, but her mouth closed and dark playful eyes gained a bit more of the solemn watchfulness they so often contained. If Cornelium lowered her then and there she would remain in place, even if she still appeared ready to shoot out like a frightened rabbit at any moment. "Shim thanks you for your aid, Cornelium, this drink Snow was given has obviously given her an excessive amount of energy, who knew urine could do such a thing." He stepped forward, but not before Lanendiarassken placed one snadalled foot dangerously close to the tiny clay figure, dark eyes glowering at the Pycon. "You leave thissss place now, clay thing. I never want to sssssee you or your mutt again." Shim cleared his throat. "I can assure you Snowflake has the purest breeding one can find in a Zypherian sled dog, but we will abide by your wishes and vacate the premises immediatly." He began to walk out, either with Snowflake or with both Cornelium and Snowflake in tow. Since he wasn't used to walking on his own, he took advantage of it and practiced a very Eypharian saunter he had seen from many of the race as they paraded down streets and through buildings. One hand angled on his hips, one brushing away solid locks of hair, the other two poised up at different angles as he smoothly glided from the shop as cool as you please.

[Kaley]

Gliding through the streets, Kaley felt her golden anklets lightly twinkling in the winter's air. Softly she pulled her winter silks closer to her face, attempting to hide her sincere smile. After months of subtle pleading and gentle hints she was finally able to grasp onto some form of humanity, with a Gardener's presence, of course. Impatiently she waited for the fat buffoon to catch up. "Of all days! Why do I never get the skinny one." she thought to herself. Clutching her treasures tighter, she hurried down the filthy street. Kaley had done well under Yahal's grace and had given all to him, keeping little for herself. She simply requested that once a season she may visit the herb tent and sell what she had collected for the glory of the Pressorah. After many moons, her wish had finally been granted and arrangements had been made. The presiding Gardener was to give her bundle to a young Eypharian named, Hajirah, who would in turn give him x number of miza's in return to be given to the Pressorah. Kaley was forbidden to keep any for herself, nor did she need to. As Kaley approached the green tent, her senses were overcome with thoughts of her childhood. Her mother, with red pastes on her hands, setting Kaley on her lap to help her grind herbs. Her father, lifting her up to place an oil on the highest shelf. The smells from her parent's shop and the noises of tearing apart dried herbs. It was more than Kaley could bear. Her father's smile never to be seen again, nor feel her mother's warm embrace. She covered her face with her unfamiliar, perfumed hands and fell into the dust. Her parcel, forgotten and strewn across the entrance, with dried lavenders, jasmines, and barks scattered across the opening of the tent.

[Corneliun]

After Shim shouted, Snowflake stilled, giving him the opportunity to lower her. He exhaled and flipped onto his front, taking a moment to catch his breath. He gave a polite nod to the Pycon before Lanendiarassken stepped from simple observation to a more assertive role. He glared down at the Pycon, a low hissing threat escaping his mouth. He watched Shim clear his throat and talk back, before walking, head held high a typical Eypharian stance being held as he left the tent.

Corneliun looked up at the Dhani as he stood, a smirk on his face before talking.
"Hiss, hiss hiss, hiss-diddy-hiss. Hiss?" he gave a wink and turned on his heel to the entrance of the tent. Only however to be stopped by the seemingly shocked expression of a woman. For a moment he simply stared, unsure how to act, until this 'gentleman' took a smile and approached. His eyes only took on her face for a moment, before he turned his attention downwards. Herbs had been dropped and cast across the ground, the look of surprise did not seem to lift from this woman. So he took the initiative, he approached, giving a small nod, a charming smile before bending down to the ground. He used careful hands to pick up the herbs, and although disorganised he tried his best to sort them, placing things of similar colours together, before returning them to the parcel. Quiet calmly he stood, his head briefly cocked to one side,
"I think you dropped these?"