Open [Event] Traders from Wind Reach arrive!

[Poison]

Start of the Event: Summer 45, 513 AV.
End of the Event: Whenever the Inarta have sold everything.

„Come on, it can’t be much further!“ Ilara Ivy told her younger brother Isador who glared at her as if he really, really wanted to hurt her. „Aren’t you having fun? Just think of what grandfather will say if we come back from the surface with fresh meat!“ She grinned all over her face. Ilara was tall, even for a Symenestra, strong and fast and in excellent physical shape. She was no beauty with her flat chest and her dull grey hair, but she wasn’t interested in being a weak, pretty little girl anyway. She was a hunter, and she loved it. Soon she would also go on her first Harvest and get herself a surrogate.

„Can’t we go back home?“ Isador complained. The second born of the Ivy Web was the complete opposite of his sister. He was almost half a foot shorter, skinny, with luminous crimson eyes and snow white hair. He was eighteen, two years younger than his sister, and he dreamed of becoming the best aerial dancer in Kalinor, better than Avarys Anthurium who had already starred in a couple of big dance productions this year. He didn’t want to hunt, and he definitely didn’t want to kill.

The only reason he had come with his sister was because of his grandfather. The head of the Ivy Web had nearly died of a stroke last year. He’d often talked about how much he missed his trips to the surface. Isador hadn’t managed to tell them that he didn’t enjoy it. He didn’t want to disappoint him. So he’d gone with the others, Ilara and their sixteen year old sister Iluna who walked behind them quietly, her bow in hand, ready to shoot it as soon as she saw an animal.

She paid more attention to their surroundings than the argument of her siblings. Mizahar was a dangerous world. You never knew what could happen. There! It seemed to her as if she had seen a large, dark shape move across the sky – and then another one – and another one!

„Ilara, Isador!“ she whispered to her siblings urgently. Both of them turned back to her, looking rather annoyed. „Just look! What do you think these are?“ While Isador seemed fairly clueless, Ilara narrowed her eyes before she exclaimed, „Birds! They are birds!“ „Shhh …“ Iluna whispered. „What if they can hear us? What if they are dangerous?“

At that Ilara just laughed. „They can’t hear us from such a distance, besides they aren’t dangerous. They have people on their backs! I think they are … Inarta! Come on, guys, we need to tell the others! Forget about the meat! I want to see the looks on their faces!“
~~~~~

About a bell later the visitors arrived at the Woven Gate - at least half of them. The Wind eagles and their riders had opted to stay on the surface, much to the disappointment of the three Ivy children and the many residents of Kalinor that had never seen such magnificent creatures before. And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some already discussed climbing up to the surface and taking a look at them.

A small crowd had already gathered around the gate as the Inarta were pulled up into the city in a basket one by one. There were four of them, three men and a woman. The men all had bright red hair that seemed strange to the Symenestra and freckles all over their faces. The woman’s hair though was beginning to go gray. The Inarta had apparently informed themselves well beforehand. The woman was already past the age of fertility and would be useless as a surrogate.

All four humans were dressed in leather, which made them look even stranger to the Symenestra who preferred flowing garments made of silk in brilliant jewel tones or their exoskeleton armors.

After the Inarta the crates filled with the things they wanted to sell were pulled into the city.
~~~~~

It was just as the last crate was pulled into the city that Laudavyn Aconite, the trade master of Kalinor arrived.“Welcome to Kalinor!“ he greeted them with a smile. He was used to interacting with humans, and his Common was flawless as a consequence. „There are rooms for you at the Meadows Public House, and we have food for you as well. Surely you’ll want to relax a bit after the long journey. Truth to be told, I had expected the traders from Wind Reach to arrive a little earlier.“

„We had some problems on the way here“, the woman, the oldest of the group replied. „But we have a Dek with us that we are willing to sell to make up for it.“ At this Laudavyn smiled. „That shall be interesting“, he remarked before he gestured for the humans to come with him. „The Ochya will help you across the Web“, he informed them.

„What’s a Dek?“ Soraya Orchid, one of the two Moth Queens of 512 AV and a dancer at the Cobweb asked her fiancee. The young man was a dancer as well. He was a bit skinny, but the fact that he was rather agile more than made up for it. He was capable of things that most other men just couldn’t do. „Is that what they call their eagles? Is it a piece of jewelry? Either way, I want it, so you are going to buy it for me, do you understand?“

„Ah, my dear Soraya“, Avarys Anthurium, one of the two owners of the Weft and Warp remarked. „It’s good to know that some things never change. You are still as intelligent as ever. A Dek is neither a bird nor something you can wear. It is a member of their lowest caste, a surrogate for whoever can afford her – or a slave, if it happens to be a man.“

Soraya just stared at him.

~~~~~

„The Dek will stay in my house“, Laudavyn informed the people of Kalinor once the Inarta had been escorted to the Meadows Public House. He was rather unhappy that Avarys and Soraya had spread the news. It would have been better if the fact that the Inarta had brought a special trade good with them had remained a secret until the very end. „Do not think of taking her without paying for her.“ Her. It was a woman. Symenestra immediately started talking.

~~~~~

Early the next day the Inarta had set up a stall at the Orchard Market. It was full of wondrous things made of glass, jewelry and even spices and things made of leather. In return for those things the Symenestra were looking for silk, clothes and gems – and they were also looking for somebody that helped them get around the city for as long as they were there.

[Oscar]

Oscar rarely made it out and about in the city, most often he simply stayed in either the Public House or he traveled to the Nest or the Purging to for work. Work tended to take precedence for the young healer, so much so that he often mentally and physically exhausted himself before being done. However the Inarta staying at the Public House had caught his notice. It was rare to see merchants or travelers in Kalinor, very rare. It hadn't taken much snooping around to figure out of their goods. Oscar walked the Orchard Market today with his goal firmly in mind, he was going to purchase a slave. The very thought sent shudders down his spine, the idea of buying another sentient being was abhorrent to the young healer. Slavery was a practice he frowned upon in every conceivable light, it was against his very nature to approve of such a thing. Though this idea was... distasteful at the least, he had been in Kalinor long enough to know the fate of many females. The cries had not escaped his notice in the halls of the Place of Purging, nor had the eerily empty rooms or previously used items in the Nest. He could not save those women yet, it was not within the scope of his abilities. He could however, save this woman, this so called Dek from such a fate. Oscar was also not exactly lacking for money, Kalinor paid very well for his services. The healer surveyed the market itself, noting the foreign goods and many fine glass pieces that stole his very breath. Were he feeling self indulgent he might have wanted to purchase something here for himself. That was not the case today however. Today he was trying to save another from certain doom. The young healer strode up to the stall and granted a serene smile to one of the Inarta, though it looked somewhat forced if one looked closely. Oscar himself had never traded with Inarta, he had occasionally seen the rare one or two in passing through his travels but never actually met one. This was not exactly an ideal first experience. "Hello, I was looking to inquire as to the Dek and her... cost." Oscar said, looking slightly uncomfortable at the mention of cost. He didn't have to know this woman to want to help her, it was his duty to do so. Rak'keli would frown upon him doing anything less, surely.

[Sinvala Chrysanthemum]

.

Sinvala's curiosity was a subdued thing, even when stirred up as it was with the arrival of the Inarta visitors from Above. She had come, as had many others, to oggle these strange new people and to be fascinated by their speech and wares. She had wanted to emerge from the cavern and see for herself those fantastic eagles and their riders so she could later regale her honoured mother with the story over the evening meal.

But for now, she was content with seeing and speaking with these strange peoples in her accented Common with the simple use of certain words that made her seem slow, sometimes, and frighteningly intelligent at other times.

She had also come to look at that slave-Dek-woman-thing she had heard so much about from the other Symenestra that had come to see the visitors for themselves, even though she knew she had little hope for buying it. Still, with that in her mind, she fascinated herself as she traveled the thick red rope with thoughts of presenting her eldest brother with the woman as a surrogate and the glee of her sister-in-law when presented with the opportunity to raise another child. She flushed with the ideas in her head of what attention a fresh surrogate sold willingly to her people would bring her family, and herself, but sobered fast when she reminded herself, again, that she would be unable to purchase the woman.

Once she made it to the Orchard, she was assailed by the sights and sounds the foreigners summoned with their arrival. There were more Symenestra present than Sinvala was typically used to seeing in one place, but she joined the crowd with a smile across her lips and polite words of greeting to familiar faces. They were like a small town, after all, and most of them knew her by her face if not by her name.

She was intrigued by the small glass baubles presented to her as she passed by Inarta tradesmen, interested in how glass was made since she had never actually seen it before. Some were so richly coloured that she couldn't help but ask about their price, lucky in the security of bringing her coinpurse with her. She lifted a delicate-looking eagle in particular, curling her thin fingers around what she thought must have been an expertly crafted rendition of the bird she never had the chance to see.

"How much does this cost?" She asked the Inarta, showing the eagle in her cupped hands.

[Shausha]

45 Summer 513
___________________________________________________________________________________________

The moment Shausha picked up the scent of eagles, she took off. Foreigners! This is why she came to Kalinor! Adventure and new things! As she neared the city gate, the scent got stronger and more complex. It was a brand new smell that was sharp and rough in her nose. She kept close to the cave ceiling, and when the gate entrance came into view, she clung to a stalactite that gave her an ample amount of shadow to shroud herself with.

She squinted at the newcomers. They were easy to spot due to their flaming red hair and that they were covered in bird-scent. Shausha had a hard time picking out the different voices as more people collected upon the entrance atrium. She let go of the stalactite and fell silently, gradually opening her wings to pull out of the dive. She landed silently and snuck behind a guard outpost under the cover of the hubbub of gathering Symenestrian. She gathered a few bits of information about the foreigners: they were late, they were traders and they selling a slave. Judging by the Symenestra’s reaction, the slave was the pinnacle auction item. Shausha scoffed. A single slave.

What Shausha really wanted was to examine those large creatures that shared the sky with her. She circled around behind the crowd and eagles. A golden, tawny eagle cocked its head at her as she approached at a crawl. She kept her wings low, and legs tensed. The eagles answered with low, warning calls to one another. The nearest bird lept suddenly, screaming at her, wings spread. The eagles restraints kept it from doing more. Shausha darted backwards and hissed at them. She quickly slunk back to her original hiding spot in case their handlers came to investigate the disturbance. She wanted dearly to see if she could kill a giant eagle, but now was definitely not the time. She poked her bottom lip out in a theatrical frown and settled for flicking a few pebbles at them.

Shausha returned her attention to the travelers. By now, they were setting up tables of wares. To get a better view, she returned to the ceiling of the cave. She watched as they laid out shiny thing after shiny thing. Looped clear glass vases and jewelry speckled with gold filled Shausha’s marveling eyes which were nearly the size of dinner plates by this time. Symnestrians crowded the wares, speaking excitedly and pointing to the glassware delightedly. She even saw Oscar appear once and had to try her best to resist the temptation to swoop down and scare the living daylights out of the meek man. She might that for later tonight as he left his work at the infirmary.

What interested Shausha the most were a display of large eagle feathers. The feathers ranged in color and pattern and sported painted scenes of exotic mountains. Plus, the smell they had was fascinating and that would probably be as close as she could get to the actual birds. She shifted, re-adjusting her feet and hands into the grooves that the stalactite she had been clinging to. Her pack had been left in her living quarters and it just seemed so silly to pay for a feather anyway. She gently let go of her perch and circled down, approaching low and behind the vendors and crowds do draw less attention. She chose to sit on the crates behind the table of feathers. Kicking her feet lazily against the boxes she sat on, Shausha picked up a few and examined them closely, sniffing and licking the ends.

.

[Poison]

The Orchard Market was especially busy that day. Every single Symenestra seemed to want to take a look at the Inarta and their wares. Traders only occasionally came to Kalinor, and thus each of their visits almost turned into some kind of festival. Even the ruling couple and their daughter had come to see the Inarta – and promptly invited them to dinner at their residence. The people were all dressed in their best clothes, tunics and robes of fine silk, with embroidery on them. Some of them had brought clothes and jewelry that they wanted to exchange for the things the Inarta had made with them.

Oscar had a hard time moving through the crowd. Moving along the thick ropes that were the streets of Kalinor was already hard for a human on a normal day, but now he was in real danger of falling off the Web. Today the Symenestra didn’t seem particularly inclined to pay attention to the clumsy human doctor. They just wanted to see the strangers that had come from the surface!

A small crowd had gathered around the stall. The Inarta, it turned out, didn’t only sell glass jewelry, but also small figurines, plates and bowls. A couple of children stared at at a tiny horse made of red glass. „What’s that?“ a little girl asked. Like most Symenestra children she had never seen a horse before. There were no horses in the cave nor in the mountains above Kalinor. „I think it’s a monster“, a boy guessed. „It probably breathes fire. It’s red. Red things always have something to do with fire.“

It took a while for one of the Inarta to notice Oscar. Finally a young man looked his way. He was several inches shorter than Oscar and a few years younger, with fiery red hair, pale skin and a lot freckles. „I hadn’t expected to see a human here in Kalinor!“ he exclaimed, and the other Inarta suddenly looked in Oscar’s direction as well. „And if you aren’t human, you are the strangest Symenestra I have ever seen. What is a man like you doing with the pale ones?“

„Ah, the Dek. You miss the company of a human woman, don’t you? Tired of all those pale girls with their fangs and their sharp nails?“ He lowered his voice a little. „Liane over there …“ He pointed at the older woman who was their leader. „… wants to sell her to the Symenestra. She’s never said anything about selling her to a human. But I say, if you want her, you can have her. She’s just a lowly Dek anyway. I’m not going to tell you the price though. You have to make me an offer. How much will you pay for her?“

„This is a miniature wind eagle!“ The one female Inarta that had entered Kalinor smiled at Sinvala. She looked only slightly uncomfortable. She was aware that she would probably be locked up somewhere if she were a few years younger, that she wouldn’t be safe here, not even with the protection of the Aconitum, but she tried not to think about it too much. Besides, those women, surrogates, they called them, weren’t her kind anyway, just like the Dek that had outlived her usefulness. As long as she and the men were safe, everything was fine. „Doesn’t it look perfect? Can you imagine how long it took to paint it? I doubt that you have anything like that in Kalinor. It costs fifteen golden mizas, but I am also willing to trade it for something of equal. The silk your people make interests me especially!“

It was then that a scream rang through the market. „Zith!“ the Inarta that was responsible for the table with the fathers exclaimed. He turned around and drew a dagger. The other Inarta stopped in mid-business and turned around as well, their eyes wide with fear. „There is a Zith in Kalinor!“ Apparently Shausha had finally been discovered.

Even the Symenestra looked, but after they had discovered which Zith it was, they turned away. They had mostly gotten used to Shausha’s presence in Kalinor. One of them – Shausha might recognize her as Saara Orchid, one of the hunters of the Sickle and Arrow – even approached Shausha. „The Zith belongs to us“, she explained. „She is a fellow hunter. She will not harm you.“ The Inarta didn’t look as if they really believed that, but there was little they could do – for now. They were only guests here. They would be sure to mention the presence of a Zith in Kalinor to their people in Wind Reach though. If Symenestra and Zith were allies now, they would need to be more careful in the future.

Maybe the Symenestra weren’t really the tragically misunderstood people they pretended to be. Maybe they were just as violent as the Zith that often attacked traders and unsuspecting travellers and killed them or enslaved them.

„Do you want to buy some of my feathers, Zith?“ the merchant asked. His hair had exactly the same color as a carrot, and he had a small beard. „Do you have any money? Or something that you want to trade for the feathers?“

[Sosicly Magnolia]

Sosicly had heard of a surrogate that could be bought, a fiery red head from the Inarta people who all had the brilliant shade of red hair, and along with those stories she had heard of great flying birds just above the city. Word spread fast, and the people spread faster until they formed a cluster of people seemed to constantly envelope the traders from Wind Reach. Their stall was only one from what she had seen, and she watched from a few stalls down, noting the familiar faces and how many were looking around. She had no doubt they searched for the buyable woman. “Not going over there?” The young Symenestra look at the young man in the stall, too young to be his own so he must be watching while the owner bought something. Sosicly raised her brow in retort, and the boy blushed. “I broke a figure yesterday, mom said I couldn’t get anything else till I was more careful.” Her brow inched higher and the boy made a shooing motion, “If you aren’t going to buy here, go buy over there.” Instead of leaving she made herself comfortable for a few chimes until she seen a familiar winged figure slink into the stall. “You can’t sit—“ She waved absently to the boy, and grabbed a sturdy weaved cord to reach the traders stall. It only took two and she landed neatly, surprised to hear another more than familiar voice ask to buy the woman, though he was not the only one recently if looks around were anything to go buy. Not all were pleased, likely Esterian, she assumed with a glower. But it was none of her business, Sosicly purposefully turned her back on the scene to take in the items brought from Wind Reach. Pulling out her book she kneeled down, ignoring the irate huffs at her position and wrote out her question in Common, wondering idly if they would understand Symenos. Striking through what she had originally wrote, Sosicly reworded herself in Common. It took her a few chimes, and when she finished she packed her vial away but kept her quill wet in small blotch in the corner of the book. If they didn’t have what she needed here then she would no reason to stay or use excess ink. Turning back she approached the nearest read head and thrust the book out with a pleased smile. Do you have glass jewelry? Beads? May I see the bird-friend? Do you have quills? Or Medicines? While she waited for the Inarta to read the words she casually plucked up one of the nearby glassworks, an amused smile crossing her face as she looked at it. If she didn’t know better she would say it was a spider.

[Oscar]

Oscar was more than a little shocked that the man wanted him to name the price, the healer had little to no experience with such things. How was he supposed to know the going rate for a fellow human being? It wasn't exactly as though he partook of such things often. Oscar thought for a moment, he was certainly not lacking for money of any kind, the life of a healer was fairly lucrative as far as things went. Normally he was not one to care about such thing, for all he cared the money could just gather dust in the corner of his room. However it held the chance to help another so he was more than willing to spend all of it. He felt a slight shudder go down his spine, it was rather chilling with the ease this man discussed selling another person. It definitely bothered him to a high degree but he held his tongue in check, there were some cruelties in this world that he could not fix yet. The trade of slaves was one unfortunately. It was accurate to say that it was one of the few things that could anger him, that could get his blood boiling. Which made this situation even more ironic. Oscar regarded the man again, his gaze still holding that odd forced serenity about it. "I am indeed human, sir. I bring Rak'keli's blessings here in the hopes of helping those in need." He said with a polite incline of his head to the young Inarta. He ignored the observation that he wanted this woman for base needs, for it was indeed the furthest thought from his mind. Oscar was a rather celibate individual by principle, his life was devoted to his craft so that left little time for selfish indulgence. Some might call that sad and passionless but it was the path he had chosen. "I see. In that case do three hundred gold mizas sound about right to you or do you want more?" The healer asked, cocking his head slightly. He was unsure himself, three hundred gold mizas was certainly a lot of money but would it be enough to buy a person's freedom? It was a question worth pondering. It would be rather easy for this young man to up the price on the Dek as economics was not exactly Oscar's forte.

[Shausha]

Scintillating powder, suspended in the air
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Shausha thought their screams were absolutely hilarious. She grabbed the peaks of her wings and jumped around, pretending to set upon some invisible prey. "Rawr! I'm a Zith! So scary!" Intermittently, she would imitate their silly screams and pretend to cower, "Eeek, a Zith! Eeeeeek!" She broke into a peel of laughter. Humans.

When a male foreigner approached her, she stopped her little play and spun on her heel to face him. She smiled placidly until she saw his flaming red beard at which her curiosity overrode her previous directive to have a conversation about pricing. Shausha cocked her head and squinted her eyes, completely fixated on his beard. She sniffed intently, approaching slowly and reached a hand out to run her fingers over it a couple times. There was a pause, then she clapped her hands together and laughed once more.

"Yes. I want a feather." Shausha said matter-of-factly. She swaggered over to a collection of nearby vases and flicked one with a hard talon. Listening intently to the ringing tone it made that only her Zith ears could pick up, she walked back over to the salesman and confessed, “I don’t have much money on me, actually. Do you have any crappy, free ones? I just want one!” Under the pretense of yawning, she emitted a supersonic shriek that matched the frequency of the vase. She could hear it vibrate in protest; She squinted her eyes and strengthened the frequency. An explosion of shining shards cascaded across the room causing everyone to jump and some to scream. Shausha prayed to the dimness around her for it to shadow her movements as she darted to the eagle feather table and snatched the first thing one she could reach. Realizing she had no pockets, only her strappy, leather harness, she looked around stupidly for a moment before shoving it up into her dreadlocks.

When the salesman turned around she stretched to cover her previous movement. She was careful not to reveal the back of her head in case her hair was not completely covering the item. Pinning the man with a stare and said, smiling, “That was weird.” Unmoving, she added, “So how about that free feather? I’ll take anything. Or I guess I could pluck one off your birds,” she bluffed.

She was mid hair-flip when something caught her attention. There was a tall man in the crowd that was talking about a slave. She leaned an ear in his direction, trying to filter out his voice among the market's sounds. The Symenestrian man went on to describe the slave as a "Dek" to his rather short friend. Shausha listened closely as the short one confirmed that he had seen the slave and that she had bright red hair. Shausha slowly turned back to the bearded salesman, a look of disgust on her face as she put together the hints.

"You are selling one of your own kind?" Shausha hissed, struggling to grasp the concept. “If you do not have each other, who have you?” she whispered, looking at something invisible. “A race of...barbarians...bad...b...,” she searched for the word.

Finding it, she looked up at the man, an accusing spark in her eye. The word rolled off her bottom lip like a drop of blood, “...betrayers.”

oocAt first, I thought the idea of shattering the glass with Zithanese was too fantastical to actually post, but apparently, it's a thing! If humans can do it, I think Zith could with their improved hearing and pitch! Link to a video below.

~*~
.

[Sinvala Chrysanthemum]

.

"A... wind eagle? Is that what the birds you ride are called?" To her, the name sounded somewhat self-serving. Wind eagle seemed too obvious a name for the large birds and she imagined that there were many other names that could have been used rather than something like that. She smiled a pointed smile of teeth at the Inarta woman at the mention of possibly making a trade. Fifteen gold mizas was, after all, a hefty price. She did not look to spending that much on a single bauble and relished the idea of a bargain.

She didn't have silk on hand, though, rather than the shift of cloth she wore, and even then she suspected the Inarta wanted something less used and more pretty than the gleaming cloth. Her mother might have silk on hand, she thought, or really any one of her sisters-in-law might have some in their home. She considered going and retrieving some silk from them and maybe, if they gave her enough, she might be able to buy them all little trinkets as well, or even little trinkets for her niece and nephews.

"Can you wait a few chimes as I get you some fabric? I promise I'll be back!"

Suddenly, there was a cry of alarm. Startled, Sinvala whirled around to see what monster it was that had scared the Inarta so badly, but when she saw the Zith there that she had been hearing about, she lost interest relatively quickly. She would have been willing to bet that the Zith was causing mayhem and enjoying it. A smile quirked the edges of her lips then when she returned her pleading eyes to the woman Inarta.

.

[Poison]

„Well, the Symenestra certainly need the help of somebody that has Rak’keli’s blessing“, the Inarta remarked to Oscar. He still sounded very very cheerful and smiled all over his face. Apparently the things that went on here didn’t bother him at all. „Their women have a problem giving birth – or rather, surviving the birth. That’s why they need woman from the surface. Although I suppose they won’t get this particular woman now, will they?“ He gestured in the direction of the Aconitum where the Dek would be staying until somebody bought her, and then he turned back to Oscar.

„You offend me!“ he exclaimed as he heard the healer’s offer. „Three hundred gold mizas? Three hundred gold mizas would be enough if she were deformed and stupid, like so many Dek. But she looks normal, she can speak coherently, and she is fertile! She already gave birth once! Three hundred and fifty golden mizas, I say. Three hundred and fifty golden mizas for a woman that will warm your bed at night, give you strong sons and daughters and cook for you while you are off healing the venomous ones!“

„What do you say? Do we have a deal?“

~~~

The Inarta didn’t find the situation hilarious at all. As Shausha made fun of them, they shuddered and looked at her in fear. After Saara had informed them that the Zith belonged here, the feather merchant had put his dagger back into ist sheath at his belt, but he still occasionally looked down at it. He wasn’t so sure if he really wouldn’t need it. What if the Zith decided to have an Inarta for dinner?

As Shausha moved forward he made a step back – but he didn’t step back quickly enough. He was sure the beast would cut his throat now. He reached for his dagger. As she simply touched his beard rather than murdering him, his eyes were so wide that they seemed to be ready to drop out of their sockets, and he simply babbled incoherently for a bit.

„Shausha, no touching the humans!“ Saara who was still nearby warned her. „They are rather sensitive creatures and might just die from shock!“

„N … no money? Crappy free ones?“ the merchant repeated. „I’m not sure … I suppose I could …“ Before he could finish the sentence, a nearby vase exploded, and he jumped around. There was just enough time for Shausha to steal the eagle feather.

„Did you do that?“ the merchant asked as he turned around again. „Here’s your feather!“ He thrust a brown feather that looked like the bird it came from had suffered from scabies or a similar disease at her. „Now go and don’t come back again!“

~~~~

„She’s not one of our own kind!“ the cheerful young man who had just talked to Oscar corrected Shausha. „She’s just a Dek. We are Endal and Avora. The only purpose of a Dek is to serve others. Do you want to buy her? The gentleman over here …“ He pointed at Oscar. „… is very interested in her, so if you want her, you need to act quickly. He seems to really need a woman.“

~~~~

„The wind eagles are so much more than birds“, Liane replied to Sinvala. „They are just as intelligent as humans. Even though they have the form of a bird, they are people in every way that matters, and we have a very special bond with them. But I disgress. You certainly haven’t come here to talk about us and our companions. Feel free to look at the figurine a bit before you make up your decision.“

She made a step back and waited. As Sinvala asked her whether she could wait a few chimes, she nodded. „I will reserve the wind eagle for you. Nobody else will be able to buy it.“ She turned away from Sinvala and checked what her companions were doing. One of them was talking to a human man. She heard them mention the word „Dek“ more than once. But surely the human wasn’t interested in her? What did a normal man want with a dirty Dek?

~~~~

„Oh my …“ the Inarta whom Sosicly approached murmurred as she thrust her book out. „You are mute! I’ve never met a mute Symenestra before! I’m Luka, and who are you?“ Luka was cute for a human, short, with messy fiery hair and blue eyes, and he didn’t do anything to hide his surprise. „Of course we have glass jewelry! We have necklaces and bracelets and earrings in all shapes and colors. We also have beads. And look at this here!“ He reached into a box that stood on the table in front of him. „A pendant in the shape of a spider! They always compare your people to spiders, don’t they?“

„We also have quills. I’m not sure what you mean with bird-friend though? Do you want to talke a look at our wind eagles? I’d need to discuss it with Liane of course, but I’m sure it could be arranged. Oh … this is great as well …“ He had noticed Sosicly’s interest in the spider figurine. The animal was black and had eyes made of small red stones. „For only ten golden mizas it’s yours.“

„I’m not sure if we have any medicine though. I need to check. Are you looking for a particular kind of medicine?“