Closed Clay Ache'n

[Kawari Newid]

35th of Summer, 516AV
11th Bell, 30th Chime

The sky was clear and the breeze was warm in the crowded streets leading to the Bizarre. Colourfully garbed people were everywhere and a myriad of languages were abundant. Since her arrival at the beginning of Summer, Alvadas had been filling with an increasing number of Ionu's worshippers and Kawari could all but taste the tenseness in the air. High strung emotions were bound to occur in an over crowded area, especially with the recent attacks that had taken place over the last nine days. If it was not an attack on a person, it was an attack on someone's wares. Kawari had grown a bit more wary as well and she attempted to keep as little attention on herself as possible, and had been doing her best to blend in with the locals or often went about it her furred form. She had also begun to worry about Kal's Kiln, but then there was always someone there, so perhaps they would be fine, or at least she hoped.

However, today was not to dwell on these events; today the young potter would scout out the ceramic goods passing through the Bizarre. She had been in a bit of a slump for the past few days and looked forward to exploring the stalls and gleaning new ideas from any potential source. Perhaps she would even find something else among the various booths as well- a second dagger, a small sack or new clothes. More clothing never hurt when you constantly covered them in clay.

Soon, Kawari found herself before a large, domed building, with people streaming in and out, and voices calling out their wares. Although the various scents and sounds overwhelmed her senses, they were also comforting and reminded her of the Bazaar in Syliras. Humming a made-up tune, the Kelvic entered into a space that was much larger than the outside would have suggested. The last time and first time she had visited the Bizarre was during her first few days in the city, and the same sense of awe she had felt then came over her. Grand arches reached towards a cavernous ceiling, where light always seemed to shine, while innumerable booths presented themselves wherever they could. People of every shade and size milled about, some boasting local wares, while others sported tempting unknowns.

As she wandered through, scanning the stalls, Kawari untied her hair from its usual bun, dampening the cacophony of sound by a fraction, though it was difficult to remove the furrow from her brow. There was little she could do about the overpowering scents that wafted to her nose, but soon her nose would be indisposed anywho. All she could hope for was to complete her business with speed.
"Get your goods here!" a man's voice boomed over head, echoing against stone walls and ceiling. For the Kelvic, the merchant may as well have been beside her, she was so startled, bumping into someone behind her. Dismayed she, spun to face her victim, a apologies falling from her lips as her widened eyes fell both upon the potter booth now in front of her, and the pale man who she had knocked into.
"I am terribly sorry! Are you alright?"
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[Dexius]

It was just another 'normal' day in Alvadas, well, as normal as a day could possibly be as Dex floated on through the streets of the city as usual. The day was beautiful as it commonly was in the city of illusions which made it a perfect day for training or practice but something about the day kept Dex from focusing on serious matters. Perhaps he needed some time off or maybe just desired to expand his horizons today. The Symenestra was not exactly sure which it was and did not care to know either.

Dex continued to simply drift on through the streets for a few more chimes before passing a few stalls with vendors selling small knick knacks and even one selling a couple interesting food items. After perusing the inventories of each merchant Dex found that nothing exactly jumped out and caught his eyes. So he continued on down the road for another few ticks and checked on his coin in the mean time.

Seventeen gold mizas was apparently what Dex had grabbed on his way out the door on this particular day after counting them up in his head. But what would he spend his meager coin on today? Almost on cue as Dex looked up from his pocket of coin he realized he was standing in front of a vaguely familiar looking place. The Bizarre as it was called, what better place to go to find a way to waste some money.

So Dex wandered his way towards and then inside of the Bizarre and immediately realized that he was completely out of his element. The place was loud, smelly, and worst of all packed to the brim with people of all sorts. Out of instinct Dex quickly wove his way through the crowd to a less dense albeit still rather full part of the Bizarre.

Looking down at the goods in the stall before him Dex began to realize something that had not really dawned on him earlier. If he ever had a guest he wouldn't have a cup to offer a drink of water or whatever else he had lying around at the moment nor did he have plates, bowls, or any kind of utensils either. Dex picked up and inspected a small clay cup with his left hand for a few moments before hearing a rather boisterous merchant yelling "Get your goods here!"

He wasn't sure whether the merchant was nearby or not considering the overall volume of the place but what he was sure of was that just ticks later somebody had entered the same space as his right shoulder. Dex clenched his teeth and the cup as well as he waited for the inevitable feeling of broken bones to appear. Luckily for him that feeling never showered his body but it would likely leave him rather bruised for the next couple of days.

"I am terribly sorry! Are you alright?" At least they have manners Dex thought to himself as he turned to face the person responsible for the collision. If anything seemed obvious about the wide eyed woman now in front of him it was that she seemed even worse off than he did. For a moment Dex had forgotten he was still holding onto the clay cup from the stall so he quickly put it back before returning to face the woman. "Don't be sorry but you should try to be careful. There are a lot of people in here to get lost in, you might hurt yourself or somebody else."

[Kawari Newid]

She figured the dark haired man to be about a head or so taller, as Kawari found herself tilting her head back in order to meet the man's eyes. A minute shiver passed down her spin as her gaze met his twin amethysts.
'Predator,' came the instinctual thought. It was a reaction that was becoming all too familiar to her, having resided at the Wolf's Cavern for about a third of a season while being near the bottom of the food chain, though the Kelvic had yet to meet someone like this man. Tall and long-limbed, it felt as though he could easily catch her should decide to flee. Not that the crowded space would allow for that anyhow.

"Don't be sorry but you should try to be careful. There are a lot of people in here to get lost in, you might hurt yourself or somebody else." His calm voice allowed her to relax slightly, though she would not register this until later.
Kawari swallowed down another impulsive apology, took a deep breath to calm her rapid pulse, and nodded instead.
"I will keep that in mind," she smiled sheepishly, while she reflected on what had startled her to the point of stumbling into this too pale man. 'Really, he was too pale,' she thought, while her mind began to take his appearance in in detail. She considered him, her eyes flickering worriedly from one spot to another, though she could see no obvious ailments. 'Perhaps he's naturally pale? 'Maybe it is because of his people...' She noticed that his arms were a bit longer than average, as were his hands, which she mentally compared to the human men she knew.

"I was startled by the... loud noise-" her voice trailed off, a result of being a bit late on the uptake as she realized what the pale man had set down. Were she a candle, the tanuki would have instantaneously lit up. "Are you looking for pottery?" Kawari asked, her mental gears having switched from concern for the man to child-like excitement at the mere thought of something involving clay. Without waiting for a reply, she picked up a nearly identical cup next to the one which he had placed back and brought it to her eye-level.

It was not a bad piece, the walls were of an even thickness, which judged both by running her fingers around the cup in a pinched position, and by eyeing the cup. Experimentally, she slipped her hand through the handle, and held it in her hands.
"When looking for pottery you will use, it is important to feel how it sits in your hands, afterall, it was made by someone else's hands," she murmured, as she recalled one of Sal's many lectures. "It must sit comfortably, as though it belongs there." Overall, it did not feel too out of place, the simple clear glaze smoothed what would have been an otherwise slightly sandy textured surface, though balance-wise, she frowned, it was a bit bottom heavy. Turning the cup bottom-up, her eyes picked out what she presumed to be the potter's signature marking- three quick slashes parallel to each other. It was not one that she recognized, but then, there were many things at the Bizarre that were from distant places. Flipping back right-side-up, she turned the handle towards her and noticed a slight crack where the handle connected to the body of the cup.
"This is something you do not want to see," she said, turning the cup to an angle at which the man would be able to see the fine hairs of the crack. "It might give out sooner or later, and you would be left with a broken handle, which can be sharp since clay and glaze turn into glass when they are fired in a kiln," she told him in a-matter-of-fact tones. With that, she placed the cup back in its spot, before reaching for a different style of cup, which resembled more of a tankard in both shape and size, and was made of what looked like red clay.
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