[The Tattered Thread] Rainbow Silk and Rainbow Fish

by **Aislyn Leavold** on November 9th, 2014, 10:32 pm

38th of Fall, 514

OOCThis is just meant to be a short shopping solo to validate some purchases I've been meaning to make for a while.

It had been one of those days again.
One of those days where, Aislyn knew, there was a million things she should have been doing that she was, inevitably, avoiding. Instead, of course, she was out and about in Alvadas. Or rather, out and about in a tree. With her notebook. Drawing pictures of rainbow fish as they swam by, right before her eyes.

Aislyn was not good at getting things done.

Originally, the woman had set out from her house in search of either the bazaar or some sort of clothing store, yet there she was. In a tree.
Definitely not buying clothing.

In her defense, however, she’d spent what felt like bells wandering the city of illusion’s streets, taking wrong turn after wrong turn until she’d simply given up her search, admitting defeat in wake of Ionu’s tricks. She swore, the deity found enjoyment in watching her run in circles. Especially when she really, really needed to get where she was going.
She supposed that was how Ionu was with all his citizens, though. Aislyn was no exception, even if she had managed to earn the deity’s favour.

So, for a bell and fifteen chimes, she’d wandered. And wandered. And wandered. Until a distraction came her way, and she’d chosen to accept it. A little procrastination never hurt anyone, did it?

The woman knew, though, that eventually, she’d have to leave her perch in the tree for either a more comfortable viewpoint or an actual store, as her choice of seating had already earned her more than enough strange looks, and sooner rather than later, the sun would set. Then she’d have no chance of finding a clothing store. Ionu might have been kind to her before, but in Akajia’s darkness, she could imagine that finding her way home might have been an impossible challenge, never mind finding a shop.

So, with grudging respect for time, she clambered down from the tree, notebook securely tucked in her backpack, it’s newest pages filled with small sketches of the illusions that currently populated the streets of Alvadas.
The woman had to admit, they had been beautiful. Exotic fish, swimming through crowds as if they were waves. Weaving between people with a certain grace to it. Like a dancer. With fins.

In any light, Aislyn had clothes to get, and little to no time to do it.

That was, if Ionu granted her somewhere to buy them.

Ten chimes later, Aislyn was indecisively standing in front of just what she had been looking for. What appeared to be a clothing store. ‘The Tattered Thread’, read the sign above the door. Yet still, something put her off entering. The blank white walls, perhaps, with their stark contrast to the bright colors swimming around the streets behind her. Then again, she wouldn’t know what the store held until she walked inside. So, of course, she did.

And was immediately met with an explosion of colour.

Hues and shades of more vivid sights than Aislyn had seen in a while. Rainbows upon rainbows of fabric, hung on the walls of the store. Every item seemed to be an illusion of it’s own, with glittering garments of every size and shape vibrantly exploding from the walls. Aislyn caught herself gaping at it, but quickly closed her mouth as she began thinking rationally again. How had she never seen this store before? Twenty years in Alvadas yet not even a glimpse of the magnificent shop…

”Hello Ma’am! How may I help you today?”

by **Aislyn Leavold** on November 10th, 2014, 3:39 am

Petching Hai, the man startled her. If she hadn’t caught herself midway, Aislyn would have screamed. Even when she did catch herself, she jumped what felt like four feet in the air.

”Oh, I apologize. Did I startle you?”
Yes. The woman wanted to yell. You did. She stopped herself, though, instead replying with a much calmer ”Just a bit.”

The man who had scared her so badly appeared to be, from his statement and convenient appearance, the shopkeeper. A moderately tall man with inky black hair falling down onto his forehead.

”Apologies.” The man turned away from her, arms gesturing to the massive wall of garments behind him. ”Is there anything I can help you find today?”

For a moment, Aislyn forgot everything she’d gone out to get. She was halfway through saying ’No, I’m not looking for anything’ before she realized that she was, indeed, looking for something. Quite a few somethings, actually. She’d been wearing basically the same set of garments for an entire season, the only difference between her everyday appearance being the illusions she put on. So, of course, that had been why she’d come out that day. To buy something she wouldn’t have to throw an illusion over in order to wear in public. Something colourful. For Maya, she supposed.

Sometimes, the woman thought her illusions had minds of their own. Debating things within her head. What to eat, what to do, and, especially, what to wear. Maybe it was because of the purpose she had for each illusion, but for some reason, whenever she used one or the other, she felt like said illusion became a constant voice in the back of her mind. Commentating on every little thing she did. Clothing was the strongest example. Thief wearing only dark clothing, to help blend in with her surroundings, as she most often ventured out at night, while Maya wore much brighter clothing, as many Alvads did, in order to blend in with a crowd.
Each illusion had it’s purpose, as each garment did too.

So that was her purpose for being at the shop. The only question was how she was going to achieve that goal.

”Actually, I am looking for something.” She followed the man farther into the store as he began to point out the wares most relevant to her. Dyed blouses, flowing pants that almost resembled skirts, and beautifully coloured scarves for the upcoming winter season. And then in between the vibrant colours, a bit darker cloth. Every once in a while, Aislyn would stop paying attention to the shopkeeper for long enough to pull one or two garments off the wall, to check if they fit her style, or at very least were in her size. Eventually, however, the shopkeeper brought her attention to something that really caught her eye. A skirt, made from some material that seemed quite expensive, dyed in a full spectrum of coloured light. The shopkeeper unhooked the item from the rack, holding it out for Aislyn to get a closer look at.

Cautiously taking the garment from his hands, Aislyn looked over the skirt. It appeared to be her size, and from the feel of the fabric, amazingly comfortable. Plus, with the vibrant colours, it seemed like just the thing that ‘Maya’ would wear. Or, really, any woman in Alvadas might wear from day to day. With that many colours, it just had to be of Alvad origin.

”You like it?” The man remained at his post, hovering behind her, always. Almost overly helpful, he was. Not annoyingly so, but enough.

”I do, actually. How much is it?”

”Ten gold, six silver, exactly.”

by **Aislyn Leavold** on November 11th, 2014, 3:25 am

For a moment, Aislyn was impressed. Had he memorized the price of every garment in the store or something? With someone so apparently dedicated as the man appeared to be, she wouldn’t doubt it. But as her mind started running over the fact, she became less impressed. Ten gold, six silver? For a single skirt?

”It’s real silk, with a variety of dyes. Of very high quality, I can assure you.

That explained it.
Aislyn almost wished it hadn’t been of such high quality. A silk look-alike, or something. It definitely would have been cheaper. But ten mizas? Sure, it wasn’t unreasonably expensive, but it was a fourth of what the woman had allotted herself for shopping. And for just one garment. Yet Aislyn could so easily see ‘Maya’ in the item. Besides, even if she did go a little bit over her budget, she could always borrow a few mizas from her mother. Or, perhaps, ‘find’ some around the city…
No. She was too old for that now. She had been young enough to get away with petty theft before, but sooner or later, the Womiyu were sure to catch up with her. It was only due to some miracle she wasn’t dead yet. Maybe the Alvad soldiers worried about angering Ionu if they took her out? Then again, from what she’d read about them, they didn’t seem like the type to be worried about offending gods.

It was, technically, their city. From the descriptions of the illusive peacekeepers, they had quite a bit of power within the city. With their ranks, they were the closest to Ionu anyone other than a priest could get. Guarding the deity’s city and all that, after all.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Aislyn handed the garment back to the shopkeeper, ”It’s a tempting offer, but I’d like to look around a bit more first. See if there’s anything better I can put my mizas on.” She smiled at the helpful man, hoping he had something else as backup, in case she refused his first offer. Luckily, he seemed to know what he was doing, making a beeline for the wall opposite where they had been standing. Offhandedly, he handed her a few garments, before a bell rang through the store. Immediately, the man tossed his greetings at the newest customer, leaving Aislyn to look over what he had left her.

Sitting down on a provided chair next to a slightly less abrasively vibrant set of garments, Aislyn looked over what had been laid over her arms. Several shirts, two sets of trousers, a skirt and a dress. Everything, minus one shirt and both pairs of pants, were sewed with vibrantly popping colours. Interesting choices. The shopkeeper had good taste when it came to fashion, especially other’s fashion. Impressive, considering she had come wearing a pretty much entirely white outfit. She hadn’t even bothered putting an illusion over it. If she was going clothes shopping, she’d reasoned, there was no reason to.

Picking out the first garment, Aislyn looked it over. A simple yet sturdy cotton shirt, dyed a dark crimson and missing the sleeves. It seemed as if something had warranted the removal of the sleeves, then a skilled tailor had turned the garment into a sort of tank top style. The only reason Aislyn could tell there might have been changes made to the fabric was because of a small set of stitches along the edge of the sleeves. If she hadn’t been so apprehensive about buying the clothing, she probably wouldn’t have paid as much as attention to the details, meaning she wouldn’t have normally noticed the stitch. It was far too well hidden.

At any rate, the shirt seemed very freeing, and of course, was in her size. She could layer something over it, or perhaps simply throw an illusion over it during the warmer days of the season. An easy fix, as long as she cared to fix it.
What the woman really needed, however, was some warmer clothing. Winter was coming, and the days were already dropping degrees. Eventually, her simple linen outfits wouldn’t work, even with illusions draped over them. Ionu’s power, at her low level, protected against prying eyes, not biting cold. She would need some real protection. A jacket, or a cloak, perhaps.

Luckily, Aislyn still had the rest of the garments to look through. She set aside the sleeveless top to find another one below it, this time in a darker black. She folded both the shirts neatly and placed them in a pile beside her. She then laid her eyes on one of the strangest pieces of clothing she had ever seen.

It was definitely of Alvad origin, with the bright colours, it just appeared to have… Far too many sleeves. Six arm holes, Aislyn counted, three on each side. Absently, Aislyn began thinking about who in the world could have worn such a thing. Quickly, she checked to make sure the sleeves weren’t just strange decorations to the piece, though she just as quickly concluded that no, the strange holes had to have been sleeves. There was nothing else they could be.

As if on cue, the shopkeeper appeared to explain.
”Oh, terribly sorry Ma’am, I hadn’t realized that was an Eypharian style. Allow me…” Swiftly, the man swept the shirt out of Aislyn’s hands, and, just as swiftly, back onto the shelf. Instantly, the illusionist felt a pang of disappointment at her unanswered questions. Eypharian? Was that some sort of special clothing trend? Or was it something else? A race, perhaps?
The name certainly sounded like it could be a race. But six arms! Aislyn had never seen such a person, nor could she imagine one. Clothing must have certainly been a problem, which, most likely, was why the Tattered Thread sold such shirts.
As if the shop wasn’t strange enough.

by **Aislyn Leavold** on November 11th, 2014, 4:54 am

Once the shopkeeper had returned to his growing group of customers, Aislyn went about her business, picking through the rest of the small pile of clothing she’d been left with. The two shirts, which, from the piece of parchment stuck to them, were priced at one gold seven silver and five copper each, then two pairs of trousers made from some unknown material (most likely linen or cotton) which she immediately set aside for purchase. Finally, she found herself with two different piles of clothing. Simply said, a yes and a no. Two sleeveless shirts, a tan set of trousers and a black set of trousers lay in the yes, while the short, brightly coloured skirt and dress lay in no. Apprehensively in the middle lay the silken skirt.

Eventually, after several seconds of indecisive wavering, Aislyn got up to go look around a bit more, before she checked out.

For a moment, she had forgotten how aggressively brightly coloured the store was. However, she didn’t forget for long, as she was once again met with the wall of different fabric. It was near impossible to forget how many different colours the shop was decorated in. It almost seemed as if the fabric was a part of the wall, instead of part of the wares.

After several chimes of searching, Aislyn found herself at a small section of the wall that appeared to be just clothing that was near or around her size. It was placed in the middle of the store, surrounded by several vibrant sections that one or two customers were flocking around. An interesting way to set up the shop. It was a wonder the shopkeeper could find anything in the mass of colour, even with his apparent skill for locating just what his customers needed. Aislyn certainly didn’t have the same skill. It took her twice as long as the man to find one garment of clothing, nevermind the armful he had originally brought her.

After a few chimes, however, Aislyn found what she was looking for. A full length cloak, dyed separate colours on the inside at out. Not quite reversible, as the inner coating didn’t appear very weather proof, nor did the seams hide themselves as well on the inside, but the coat would do for the winter season. Black on the outside, deep blue on the in. The only flaw was the lack of price tag. The woman made a mental note to inquire about it later.

In fact, once she actually took a look around, Aislyn realized that it seemed like quite a few of the garments were missing price tags. Strange. The woman thought that most stores had prices constantly listed on their wares. Pulling one more item off the rack, Aislyn concluded her search, heading back to the chair she had originally located herself in. Gathering up the items she’d originally found, the woman counted off twenty five gold mizas from her pocket in hope it would be enough to cover the expenses.

Slipping the sorted mizas back into their place, the woman patiently waited to speak with the shopkeeper, neatly folding the clothing into the basket she had brought while she waited. The basket had, up until then, been used for food, but with her idea of clothes shopping suddenly coming up, she’d needed something to hold what she bought, so the basket seemed like the most worthy option.

After about a chime of waiting, however, her mind drifted off the topic of fabric and baskets, brought back only by what must have been the third time the shopkeeper had spoken.
”How may I help you?”

by **Aislyn Leavold** on November 19th, 2014, 3:27 am

Aislyn really had to stop letting this man startle her. Really, it was getting ridiculous. And he wasn’t even trying. All the shopkeeper had done was, pretty uneventfully, turn around. Yet somehow, Aislyn had managed to lose her concentration and, once again, be startled back to attention by the man. Silently, she cursed her skittishness, though outwardly, she attempted a smile. It didn’t go too terribly well, but the conversation continued on, nonetheless.

”I just wanted to pay and be out of here, if I could...” She awkwardly shuffled towards the table designated for either squabbling prices or something similar. ”Nothing major, just a few items.” Careful not to knock anything over or trip over anyones’ outstretched leg, Aislyn draped the clothing choices over the table, picking the pre-counted mizas out of her pocket, from which she’d delegated earlier. Thirty gold. Enough to cover everything. In theory, at least.

”Thank you, ma’am. That’s seven gold, seven silver and five copper back to you.”
His words were quick and precise. Almost as if rehearsed. On top of that, he’d added her totals more quickly than Aislyn could have, even if she had something to do the math on. Even greater, her change was greater than she had originally expected. Perhaps she’d get something else while she had the opportunity.
”If you’re willing to purchase, I’ve got something that’ll fit you for the winter season.”

Aislyn gave a quick nod, hoping the man wouldn’t pull out some brightly colour silk garment that would in no way protect against the cold. She’d seen it before- so-called Alvad winter garments that couldn’t keep a person warm in spring, nevermind the dead of winter. After he brought the garment up, however, Aislyn found herself in luck. A black piece, made of some sturdy material that seemed like it would keep out the snow. A jacket, with a warm inside that the shopkeeper made sure to show off.
”It’s for less than what you have left, as well. One gold, two silver.”

That was a good price. Silently, the woman nodded, and handed back a sixth of the mizas she’d taken in change. The shop owner gave her a warm smile, and, after a quick re-counting of the mizas he’d earned himself, bid the woman farewell.
After tucking the clothing into her basket, Aislyn began trekking back outside in the cooling fall chill. She made a note to return to the shop eventually, as if one visit to a blindly colourful clothing shop wasn’t enough.

Then, of course, awaiting her outside were the objectively vibrant fish that so easily mimicked the shop they swam around. One of which appeared to be quite happily not avoiding the people wandering about the street, instead choosing to pass right through the passers by with no regard to the fact that a giant fish swimming directly towards ones’ head might scare someone quite a bit.
Luckily, it appeared that the fish was passing right through the Alvads without harm, despite the scare it gave them.

Aislyn smiled at the sight, momentarily pondering the idea that Ionu was piloting the illusion themself. What a wonderful day.

Ledger :

by **Fable** on August 16th, 2015, 12:55 am

Grade Awarded!

Skills

Lores

Consequences

Solo [The Tattered Thread] Rainbow Silk and Rainbow Fish