Solo The Jungle

[Ita]

Spring 1, 515
8th Bell

Ita had took one step after another, further away the Baroque Bay. He had just arrived in Sunberth. Mizahar might have been getting warmer, but the sea surrounding it certainly wasn’t. His cloak shrouded his body in cotton and looking around he felt out of place, as anyone not from Sunberth would. These people were vastly different than him. But, the most significant quality these people possessed that separated him from them was not the their dirt stricken faces, matted hair, or malnourished bodies, but all of these people were wearing something he wasn’t.

They were all wearing pants.

He could certainly see why, it being as cold as it was, they weren’t wearing the usual loincloth. But the great masses of pants were so difficult to wrap one’s head around, it was capable of hurting his head. These savages were so strange in their ways they couldn’t be so civilized as to tolerate the cold by getting a cloak and just wearing a regular loincloth, like Ita. Nonetheless it was him who felt like the strange one, rather than the other way around.

He kept his head down, trying to avoid attention of any kind and getting involved in some unfortunate mishap. He wasn’t quite sure where he was going, but he was positive that he could find a market somewhere, like in Taloba, where he could get these pants. All he could do was wander, because these people seemed too xenophobic to approach. They looked at him like they were Myrians and he was the outsider walking through through Taloba. He tried to focus on things other than the hostile eyes trailing him, like the city itself.

Oh, what a city it was! Less of a city, more of a dirty, urban jungle. The people here must live in such poor conditions! The buildings and roads were as filthy as the people who walked them. Beggars and orphans lined the streets in an unorderly fashion. Everything about the city looked unstable. The buildings were made of better material than huts of Falyndar, but there was a significant lacking in quality of the structures here. Ita was pretty sure he just witnessed a stabbing, but the streets were too uncaring for him to see why the lady had just dropped to the floor. It was chaos. Perhaps he could fit in, but first he would need to look as these people looked and act as they acted.

He had gone quite a distance before he turned off the street into an almost empty alleyway, which was strangely peaceful, except for the beggar yelling some unintelligible heed at passersby. Ita pinched some thick mud from the floor and rubbed it on his cheeks and jaw, trying to look dirty like the people around him. He ruffled his hair and tried to make it look unkempt then left the alley and continued where he was headed, he thought he saw what looked like market stalls in the distance.
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[Ita]

The marketplace was something to gawk at, and not in a good way. The pathways were muddy ditches and one had to struggle up a small cliff to get to any stalls. He was glad he had boots on, because although he was familiar with walking on mud in his homeland, the mud here was much more... dirty. It occurred to Ita that the stalls might be raised to prevent tides from reaching merchandise. The monsoons of Taloba were comparable to this. The ground was much more moist during monsoon season in his homeland, but there were plenty of dry, cobbled places he passed just walking to the marketplace from the docks that one could have such a center of commerce. He came to the conclusion that these people were collectively stubborn.

The marketplace was filled with a variety of peddlers. Some were poor peasants others were relatively well-off merchants. Arms... tools... even crops... goods of all kinds could be found here. Some seemed worn or of low quality and yet everything regardless of merchant or nature seemed dubious in origin. At last he had found a stall that sold clothing that seemed relatively clean and wearable. It even had a makeshift staircase leading into it, so Ita made his way up the creaky boards.

"Oh my, what a pretty face." Ita heard an ancient female voice say as he was making his way under the stalls tattered tarp ceiling. "What are you looking for, m'dear? Perhaps I can interest you in some of my fine products."

"Pants..." Ita uttered through a thick Taloban accent.

"Oh, a foreigner, eh?" An frail woman with stringy grey hair and skin that crackled as much as her voice emerged from the clothing like a predator stalking through hanging vines. She gave a tired chuckle. "Well, not from anywhere here in Syliras, my ears say to me. You certainly look like you're from around here. But when you open your mouth, you tell a different story"

"Ya." Ita mumbled. He needed to sound like them as much as he looked and acted like them.

"Well I got pants here, I do. Good quality too. Seeing as how you're new around here, let me offer you a fair warning." she said with an ominous look in her eye, "Where ever you're from, whatever you've heard, this city isn't anything like you've seen."

Ita shifted uncomfortable as she picked up a folded stack of what he assumed to be folded pants.

She continued, looking through the pile, "This city despises those that are not it's own kind. It will eat you up and spit your bones out if you aren't careful, it will."

"Thank you..." He said, attempting to mimic the accent of the old merchant.

"That's a bit more of the likes. It could quite some work though, it could." She said. After a few moments of silence she pulled from the pile a pair of leather pants and stretched them across her customers waist. "This should fit fine. Put my back into this pair. Tie it tight with the string, right here, in the front. You see?"

Ita nodded.

"Two gold ones then," She said coldly, "It''s a bargain, it is."

He handed two gold mizas over.

"Alright, m'dear, nice doing business with you. Hopefully we'll do business again." She eyed her two shiny prizes happily, content with the moral knowledge that she didn't rip the foreigner off as much as she could have.

He nodded with a warm smile spread across his face and went back down the makeshift staircase.
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[Ita]

9th Bell

It was a quick walk through Slaver’s Row before found his way to the Sunset Quarters. He had been spending his time eavesdropping in on other people’s conversations. He would loiter at the corner until someone nearby said something then walk away repeating whatever phrase he picked up until he could easily mimic the local accent, then he loitered around again.

First up, for about five chimes, give or take, his choice phrase was, “Rumour is there's a little red head goin' 'round with poisons in her pocket. Can make them to order, too, for the right price. You can find her 'round the Seaside Market. Ask for Amoux.”

Then it was, “I finally got out of that cheap apartment in the Sunset Quarter. Settled in the Gated Community, next to Ruby’s. I’m so glad.” He felt happy for the stranger, maybe he and whoever this Ruby was would be spending alot more time together. Maybe she would even court him so they could settle down together.

His favorite, though, was, “Finally handed my petching husband over to Iceheart. Gave me one fifty gold one’s for him. That’ll teach him to sleep with other men.” This was particularly pleasing. It meant there were bachelors in the area for Ita and if not, at least there were men to be bought. Leaving Slaver’s Row was like saying goodbye to a new friend, he was sad to go. But the Sunset Quarters was fast approaching.

The Sunset Quarters were a far more peaceful place than the rest of the city. It was still filthy everywhere, but it was less intimidating, and as far as he could tell, there were no gangs in the area. He went up to strangers and asked where the owner of this place could be found and although some eyed him suspiciously, it appeared he was already beginning to fit in. Eventually, Jillene Ironside came into view and for a quick deposit of a hefty bag of Miza’s he bought a place. A 20x20 apartment.

Entering the room that he now could call his own, he looked around at the place and it was shyke as expected. It wasn’t built well, the walls were thin and he could hear all the conversations in the apartments next to him, but he bought it. There was a dirty bed and a dirty chest.

It was trash, but it was his trash.
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[Orin Fenix]

Grades are Served

 

Ita

Skill	XP
Observation	3
Disguise	1
Socialization	1
Intelligence	1

Lores

• Pants are perplexing
• Sunberth: Dirty and Broken Down
• Sunberth: Has Many Markets
• Sunberth: Chews Foreigners Up and Spits Them OUt
• Eavesdropping: Useful Skill
• Location: Slaver's Row
• Location: Sunset Quarters

Extras :

Lovely introduction thread. Just a quick note, the name of the entire region is Sylira. Sunberth is one of the cities in Sylira and Syliras is another. I'm so excited to see where Ita goes from here.

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