Solo [The Pavillion] Buying and Stealing

[Davin]

34th of Summer 513 AV Davin walked past the street vendors and merchants with an air of indifference. Even with his garb covering his body, it was obvious he wasn't Eypharian. The merchants eyed him as he walked past their booths, and if he got too close they shooed him off. They knew that he was too poor to afford their wares. And the only reason he'd be looking for something was to see what he might steal. And normally they were right. But not now. He still had about 600 gold-rimmed Miza. His little adventure yesterday had proven that he was better equipped to pay honestly for his meals. So he looked about the foods for sale, most of them required to be cooked at home. Raw meats and the like. Though he saw some bread and fruit. He saw a stand selling grapes out of the corner of his eye. He had stolen a few grapes when he was younger, and had found he like them. He had never been able to steal them again, though. The person who he had stolen from was old and half-blind. She'd died some time ago. Bringing his attention to the grapes, he found his mouth watering. Fruit was a luxury in Eyktol. But it was a luxury he could afford at long last. He walked up to the booth determinedly. The man in the booth, a tall lank Eypharian with darker skin than most and a beard dyed red, laughed and pointed the other way, meaning for Davin to turn back. Davin did not however. He had the money, and he was going to have some of those grapes. The man spoke in Arumenic, but it was too fast for him to understand. Though he did catch the word, 'leave'. He ignored it. When he came to the booth, the man had stopped laughing and scowled, and began speaking in a heavily accented Common. "Are you stupid, Chupra? Go, leave. You cannot afford these, and I am not a charitable man. See if there are rats for you to dine on. I imagine they are in your price range." Davin ignored him, and plucked two gold-rimmed Miza from inside his jacket, placing them on the table. The Eypharian's scowl softened slightly. Wordlessly, he plucked two grapes and placed them next to the Miza, then began to grab them. Davin took the dagger from his sash and slammed it down on the wood point first. "I take as kindly to thieves as you do. You'll give me my money's worth, or I'll-" The Eypharian laughed. "Or you'll do what, Chupra? Tell the Jackals on me? Prance your dagger about like you actually know how to wield it? You wanted grapes, and I gave you grapes. Take it and go, before I call the Jackals for harassment." Davin seethed under his mask, but decided he'd pay the merchant back tenfold later. Right now, there was nothing he could do. What an irony, that he was being robbed. And their was nothing he could do. He took the grapes and flashed the Eypharian a nasty glare, though that only made him laugh again. Davin walked away, however. Intent on having his vengeance later. As he popped one grape into his mouth, he noticed that was a good deal more bitter than he had remembered. He didn't like sour foods. He tucked the other grape away in a pocket in his jacket. As he continued on his way, he thought of a plan to get back at the vendor. As the day progressed, and dusk began to come to Ahnatep, Davin was tucked away in a dark alley where he was unlikely to be disturbed. He wasn't sure how long this would take, but he was sure he would be done quickly enough to catch the Eypharian before he went home. He closed his eyes and began to imagine, as Master had taught him. That was what the called the wizard who taught him. Not out of respect, but because that was the only name he ever gave. Davin hadn't been allowed to call him anything else, to his face anyway. IN truth, he had thought up all manner of names for that oversized Vagik. But none came to him in that moment. As he closed his eyes, he imagined himself, sitting as he was. And then, behind him, he imagined a monster. A tall gangly thing, with no eyes or mouth, or ears. It was formless. Slowly, Davin began to change that. He saw it's head first, though there were still no eyes, there were slitted nostrils, large horns like a ram, and a wide gaping mouth. He moved down to the creature's torso, doing his best to imagine frightful skeletal shapes. The uglier the better. He thought of clawed feet and hands, and twisted forms. He tried to keep it vaguely humonoid, however. After all, his forms did not grant him knowledge, and he didn't know how to run on all fours very well. When he was done, he imagined the beast moving toward his body, and engulfing it. All at once he felt his skeleton begin to stretch and grow, his muscles pulling and reforming. He had only done such an extensive change once before, when he had become an Eypharian. But this was different. He had imagined the whole thing, not using his eyes for any bit of it. Master had said that it was much the same, but Davin wasn't so certain. More than once the transformation stopped. Whenever Davin's thoughts wandered, it would slow. He scrunched up his eyes and continued, removing his clothing when he began to stretch against them. Finally, as dark began to descend, he could feel that the transformation was nearly done. He took off his turban, the last thing he had on, and felt it as horns began to twirl in a lazy fashion on either side of his skull. His eyes remained the same as they had been, somehow horrific on body not meant for them. He hadn't really paid attention to the sensations the last time he had done this. He had been too preoccupied with getting whipped and yelled at. But if truth be told, it hadn't been unpleasant. It actually felt a bit like popping your fingers, or picking a scab. Occasionally painful, with a twinge of relief afterward. He decided he liked it. Perhaps he'd practice with this, what had Master called it? Morphing? Yes, that was it. He'd practice this Morphing later. Right now, though, he had a bit of revenge waiting for him. He stood, revealing himself to now be close to nine feet tall. His form was thin and skeletal, and his legs had become bent like a coyote's. His head had no neck, but was long and horrific. He had a large mouth with plenty of nasty teeth to show. His horns were twisted like a rams, but came out straight on either side of his head. His hands and feet bore claws. In all, he looked every bit the fearsome monster. That, he knew, was the easy part. Roughing up the Eypharian without getting caught by the Jackals would prove tough. But he was positive that he'd be quick enough to avoid being caught. As quiet as he could manage, he skulked along the alleys and narrow ways back to the pavilion. It was dark, and he was skinny enough to squeeze to between narrow places. His height proved difficult, however, and he had to crouch on all fours to keep his head from peeking out above some of the smaller buildings. The sand helped muffle the sounds, though he was rather inexperienced at stealth. He made another turn and came to an alley that opened up to the merchants' booths. From a quick glance he could see that he had a way to go to get to the merchant's booth. Unfortunately, he couldn't just use the alleyways anymore. The man's booth wasn't anywhere near them. However, as the dusk became night, Davin had a thought. The roofs may work where the alleys couldn't. He chose a smaller building and dug his claws into the wall and climbed up. He crawled over and began to scurry and crawl his way to the next roof, jumping across each one. In that way he made his way to the booth in question. He had to hurry, attempting to go as fast as he dared risking someone hearing. And he was sure a few people did. He saw several people glance up, but it had always been where he had been a few moments before. Once he saw a beggar glance up from an alley in horror. Luckily he fled rather than scream. At long last he saw the Eypharian, and just in time. He was gathering up his goods, preparing to leave the Pavilion for the night and come back in the morning. Several of his neighbors had already gone. Only he remained, clutching a candle as he worked. Davin rubbed his clawed hands together. This was just too perfect. Abandoning stealth, he jumped down from the building he had been on and landed in a crouch on the stone street. It was dark, and as the Eypharian turned toward the sound, all he saw was a lump of blackness a bit darker than the surrounding blackness. Davin could see him clearly, however, thanks to the candle illuminating his face. He called out in Arumenic. And Davin understood him this time. "Hello? Who's there? I can see you, so there's no use in pretending I can't. If you want to buy something come back tomorrow, and if you're a thief you'd have better luck somewhere else." As he said that, Davin caught a glimpse of something metal. Most likely a small knife, easily concealed. He took that as his chance to strike. He jumped up to his full height, an intimidating nine feet, and gave off a roar. He hadn't practiced it, though, and it sounded more like a man screaming. Regardless it did its job, as the Eypharian quickly dropped his knife and gave a scream of his own. Davin rushed him before he could move to pick the knife back up, and slammed his shoulder into the Eypharian's chest. He went down, easily. Not winded, but still quite horrified. He didn't scream any longer, but he had given over to a fit of shivering and blank staring. Davin bent over on top of him, his hands landing on either side of the Eypharian's shoulders, pinning him to the ground. The Eypharian gathered his wits quickly, however, and grabbed a fist full of sand. Before he could throw it at Davin's face, Davin punched him in the gut. It knocked the wind right out of him, and made him drop the sand. Davin heard him curse in Arumenic, though he was unfamiliar with the word. Deciding to finish this, Davin slammed his head as hard as he could against the man's temple. The man let out a grunt of pain and laid limp, knocked unconscious. Smiling with his odd, lopsided mouth, he went over to the man's goods, and began gorging himself on the grapes. No one was coming to the man's aid, and no one had seen him. So he ate his fill, and his two Miza's worth. When he was done, he went back to the Eypharian and stripped him of his clothes, and went through his pockets. Curiously, he did not find his Miza, but he did find some blank pieces of parchment, some string, some lint, and a bottle of ink. When he was done he buried the clothing under the sand, and propped the merchant up, leaning him on another booth that sold wine. That merchant had left his wares there, though locked in a wooden box. Davin used the Eypharian's knife to chip away at the box, ruining the cheap blade, but making a hole large enough to get a drink through. He opened a bottle and dumped half of it onto the desert floor, and splashed the other half on the now naked Eypharian. Believing his work done, he turned to go. Tracing the path he went before, he came back to his clothing, hidden in the sand. He reverted back to his original form, an easier process, though not without its difficulties. He had only needed to let his monstrous form go, his body remembering what it was supposed to look like. As he stood in the dark, naked as his birth, he handled his coat, the grape from earlier plopping out. Davin crouched down and grabbed it, brushing the sand away. He popped it into his mouth, and ate it. He found it was far sweeter than the first one.

[Caelum]

Grading Status I’m sorry, but this thread is not applicable for grading as your Character Sheet has not been updated with the season change. Your grade request will be deleted from the request thread and you may repost it when your ledger has been brought up to speed with the seasonal living expenses deducted. You may find the appropriate deductions at the bottom of the Price List. I understand that at the time you submitted your grade request your CS was up to date; however, we are able to determine whether or not a PC is still active and thus requiring a grade at all by the state of their ledger. Please don’t hesitate to PM me with any questions or concerns.