Toxic Business (Irriari)

[Crismento Miren]

12th of Summer, 511 AV The day at the Merchants Ring was less than fruitful. Cris didn’t go there for shopping, and even if he did, there weren’t anything interesting enough to catch his eye. So he hadn’t spent a single miza during the whole day in the town, except for that time when he bought something to eat in the afternoon. But what was more disappointing, he hadn’t seen a single person worth his attention. It was true that the marketplace might not have been the best place for the hunt, easily beaten by any tavern, but nevertheless a chance to identify and take advantage of a victim based on interesting purchases could not be written off entirely. But today was not a day of favorable chances, apparently. It had gotten dark quite some time ago already and the potential prey on the streets was gradually replaced by potential predators. Crismento decided that he should have called it a day bells ago and turned around to go back home. He soon stopped, realizing that embarrassingly enough he still didn’t know his way around Ravok well enough to navigate to the Tarsin’s Boarding House. Trip by Ravosala was probably his best bet, as it was the quickest and safest way, and guaranteed that Cris would end up at the location he wanted. The con man looked around trying to notice the nearest dock and he not only saw one nearby, but also an unoccupied boat about to pass by. He whistled and waved his hand at the pilot while hurrying towards the Ravosala. Crismento was about to place his foot on the dock when he felt some kind of force pushing his left shoulder. ”Out of the way, idiot,” words spoken in a low male voice reached his ears, but the mind didn’t catch the meaning of them as it was too busy trying to figure out how not to lose his footing and fall because of the rough shove. After a bit of stumbling, Crismento finally failed and tumbled down on his back. On his way to the ground he instinctively tried to grab on to something to prevent the fall and his arm mindlessly reached for the odd figure he had seen on his way to the Ravosala. His fingers felt a strange soft fur as they quickly ran through the surface of that body and in surprise did not even clutch it. As a result, Crismento’s hand just brushed against the hair and he himself reached the ground without any delay.

[Irriari]

The day had been uneventful by nearly every standard. While few of her days in the new city had been filled with adventure and excitement, she had expected more from the cityknown for chaos, and it's patron deity, Rhysol. It wasn't the sea of grass, but things were orderly, in an odd way. People often got attacked or abducted in the streets, and she had seen a few riots. Ravok was a city on edge, where the colony was so much more than that- they had been a people on edge with their own nature, and the children of Wysar who despised them. With all of its faults and inconveniences however, Ravok seemed like more of a home than Sahova had been, even if she would only stay for a few seasons.

Irriari had decided to board one of the swiftly efficient ravosalas earlier during the day, but had decided against it in the harsh light or the day time. Now, she could go towards the main city during the dusk time and explore. In her first week, she had explored as much of the dockside areas as should could during the night. Fanatically, she had searched for every shop, hiding hole and alleyway in an attempt to memorize the city. The Elders of her colony had always spoken about knowing ones surroundings, and they would often attack members of the den from the corners of the rooms, and even by air. Now, Ravok had so much more to take in that the sea of grass had. Landmarks were transitory as shops burned down or were taken over. Even the shadows from familiar, concrete landmarks seemed to change.

Irriari adjusted her poisoncrafting kit on her back before stepping towards the Ravosala captain. Towards her right, as she moved towards the boat, a small tussle occurred between two men. The victor was still standing and continued on his way towards the Nitrozian Plaza. The other man stumbled backwards, trying to catch his balance before he fell. Irriari knew it was inevitable, and made no move to help him. Few here would offer her the same kindness. As the man fell, he reached out blindly and his hands brushed against the back of her calf for an instant. He did not grab hold or pull her down, however. Irriari glanced down at the man and laughed before speaking.

“Your nice clothes will get dirty if you keep getting pushed around like that, you know.”

It was a silly statement, but the mans clothing was quite expensive looking, though it was probably quite dirty now.

[Crismento Miren]

Crismento looked up at then figure that he had touched on his way down and his face froze in a brief moment of surprise. What was this creature? It had several traits of a strange beast: wing, claws and fur, yet its face, oddly enough, was not one of some sort of animal Cris would have expected to see in combination with those other features. A monster then, perhaps? But how could it freely roam in a city of Ravok? When the creature laughed and spoke in an unexpectedly human voice, the con man reached the conclusion that in must have been one of those Zith he had heard about. But it was one thing to listen to the stories in a bar or on board of a caravan, yet completely different to see one in the night when its face was smiled upon by Leth’s light. While getting up from the ground and dusting of his clothes, Cris managed to collect himself. The beast-like humanoid intrigued him, and even though he was afraid of it, he wanted to know a little bit more about the kind. It was certainly smart enough to be able to talk, but how much beyond animal’s abilities its mind would go? Was it almost a real person or just a dim-witted being that could be easily impressed, manipulated and bent to one’s will. Overcoming his fear and anxiety, and perhaps against the better judgment of his rational parts of the mind, Crismento smiled at the Zith. ”In that cases it would be probably best to try and avoid such encounters from now on,” he responded before transforming his smile into one that appeared more apologetic. ”I am terribly sorry for almost involving you in my utterly ungraceful downfall. I did not mean to try and grab you, but it seems my hand refuses to listen to me even in the most ridiculous peril.” Cris glanced at the Ravosala that he had been trying to catch, raised his hand into the air and shouted to the pilot: ”Please wait, dear sir. Be so kind and aid me with your transportation.” The con artist didn’t notice what impression his words left on the man, but the Ravosala stopped to wait and that was completely enough. He looked back at the Zith, who was probably also trying to get on a Ravosala before he had been pushed down to the ground, and despite the silent protests in his head, extended his hand towards it with a slight bow. ”Allow me to repay my crude behaviour by offering you a drink and a meal at a tavern of your choice if you don’t mind.” Cris wasn’t sure how his words would affect the creature and what its thought process could be. He only hoped that his hand would remain attached to his arm after the Zith’s response.

[Irriari]

Irriari smiled as the man's face reflected his true feelings. He was shocked. Humans often had small windows when their true emotions were shown. These tiny window's could often tell Irriari more than hours of conversing, though it often took true shock, pain or distress to elicit them. The man got up and managed to dust himself off, and Irriari noted that the look, while not entirely disheveled, was still attractive.

The man began speaking and Irriari nodded in agreement. If he got into many more tussles with local Ravokians he could very well end up on the slave market, but based on the way he carried himself, she doubted that would be the case. At times, Ravok was simply dangerous no matter how many precautions one took to stay safe. Irriari was shocked by the mans manner of speaking, so she simply blinked as he apologized and waited a few seconds before responding. Was he truly sorry or was he an oddity among those who called Ravok their home?

“It's ok, I would have done the same in your position.”

Iriari neglected saying the second part of her statement aloud. If she would have been in his shoes and grabbed him, things would have been quite different. His leg would have been ripped by her claws as she pulled herself to her feet and her assailant would have probably turned at the noise. Then, she would have attacked whatever fool who had thought it wise to push her down. But this man had handled things much more tactfully than she had.

The ravosala waited as the man interjected. He wanted to take her out to a meal and drink at a tavern of her choice? How kind of him.

“I would like that. If you tell me why you're being so kind to me during the trip there.”

Irriari stepped into the ravosala and continued speaking.

“I am wary of humans. Few are nice to me. If you turn out to be one of the bad ones, I will pick you up from the Ravosala and drop you into the lake. If you are one of the rare nice ones, I'll take you up on your offer.”

She waited for the man to board the ravosala, if he still thought it would be wise to do so.

“Take me to the nearest tavern.”

If the man decided to get in the slender boat, he would have to speak quickly, and convince her of his motives in a few chimes. The second benefit to going to the nearest tavern ensured that he wouldn't know where she stayed or which bar, if any, she preferred. Paranoia could save one's life in this city, so she remained on guard against any human, no matter how well dressed and polite they seemed to be.

[Crismento Miren]

The creature continued to surprise Cris in how almost human-like it was. Her response could have almost been called civilised and for the briefest moment the con man thought that it was only her appearance that made it sound a bit unsophisticated. Perhaps the humanoid beast was capable of adjusting its behaviour to someone that it was interacting with, and in this case the polite mask of Crismento made the Zith talk nice too? The more she spoke, the more she intrigued him and even a rather threatening sounding words she said after boarding the ravosala didn’t worry him as much as it would coming out of a normal being in comparison to what he had expected from the creature. Cris didn’t let his thoughts be reflected on his face, instead wearing the same friendly and confident smile that he had put not after standing up from the ground. It was bad enough that he had let his genuine reaction slip in a moment when he was caught off guard. ”Very few humans are nice in general,” his voice remained unchanged at all, as if the Zith hadn’t indirectly insulted and then openly threatened him. ”In fact, I would dare to go as far as to say that very few of those that have been given the gift of breathing act nicely towards others. So your words and intentions are completely understandable, even if a little bit drastic,” he said last word with an amused smile that revealed his white teeth. ’Last chance, Lying Cris,’ his careful side of the mind that saved him more times than he could count warned him again, but he quickly dismissed it. ”I sincerely hope that I will not prove to be only worth the company of the Ravok canals silt,” the man joked as he climbed into the boat. ”My words are all that I have to convince you even though there is little what you need to be convinced of. I grew up where enemies were made easier than friends and friends were your enemies too. When I escaped such misery, I learned that not hating everyone you meet and treating them in a way that feels good to oneself makes life a much more pleasant experience, and given what small amount of it is enjoyable, you just have to treasure those moments that might make you smile at night when you go to sleep.” The talker paused briefly, examining the effect his words were having on the Zith. Could it comprehend what he was saying or was it all just confusing the creature? In all honesty, either of those cases was probably good enough for him. ”You might say that it’s all nonsense, and you would be completely right. But that doesn’t mean I cannot try and do my very best to make it true. I can tell that even the most meagre attempts of mine work wonders to me. Yet still I wouldn’t call it being kind, since after all it’s done only to make me feel better.” Cris winked at the Zith and playfully ran the fingers through his hair. ”Would you tell me then if that makes me one of the bad ones, or one of the rare nice ones?”

[Irriari]

Drastic? The human thought her words were drastic? Images of her torture within the city of Ravok, and the horrors she had suffered at the hands of humans flashed in her mind as he continued to speak. When humans were given the gift of breathing, it was just a way to further their own goals. While he agreed with her somewhat, the barbed sentence hurt. Hopefully the human would have more than insults to speak during the ravosala trip, or else he might very well find himself inside the lake.

Irriari heard most of the mans words but her brain listened with only a small amount of interest. Towards the end of his speaking, the man had managed to stop insulting her for the time being and had posed a question to her. Was he bad or one of the rare nice ones?

Irriari answered truthfully,

“I don't know you. The only things I do know of you have been from your mouth, which very well could have been lies. I know that you fell, as well, but that doesn't tell me how nice or bad you are.”

Irriari's view of the mans honeyed words was tempered by her experiences in the colony. Zith who spoke all the time were hardly the best warriors, and she had found that the same applied to most humans.

“So who are you? Why are you in Ravok?”

This answer, more than any other, would determine whether or not Irriari walked away from the human when the ravosala reached its destination.

[Crismento Miren]

It appeared that the creature didn’t take what he said too kindly and when it spoke Cris realized that his words were completely lost on the Zith. It dismissed his thoughts entirely making the con artist feel that he was making no progress at all. In fact, he might have very well been moving back, since failing to damage the winged humanoid’s defences with his talking could strengthen its unwillingness to relax, open up and let him in. However it wasn’t all lost, especially given that his attempts so far were probably too complicated for the creature to grasp, so Cris would have to tone it down, which wasn’t a very easy task, since speaking the way he did was more of a pleasure to him than a tool which could be applied to any situation. In hindsight it was probably a mistake to give in to the self-amusement when faced with a simple mind. The key to success was speaking the language that could be understood by the subject and saying words that the subject liked. The trick was figuring out what those were and when the subject was something as unfamiliar as a Zith, it was a challenge. At any case, the worst that could happen, Cris figured, was that he would walk away only with a small learning experience for the reward. ”You speak true words,” Crismento nodded. ”You have no reason to trust me for now and I will accept that. Gods see that trust is not something that should be gifted so easily especially in the haven built by the lord of betrayal.” The Zith’s questions were more direct this time, openly demanding for clear information of his person. ”I have been named Nicholas Raes by my parents. I am a businessman, or rather, would like to think of myself as one,” he smiled briefly as if it was his own personal in-joke. ”You see, my partner is great at running the business and taking care of day to day activities, which according to him is what makes a person a true businessman. I don’t argue with that,” Cris glanced at the creature and shrugged, ”after all, it’s because of his talents that we are growing so fast and can allow ourselves to wear nice clothes that can be stained on the docks of Ravok,” he gestured at his apparel with a wider smile on his face. ”I, on the other hand, am responsible for scouting business opportunities abroad, starting new business ventures that look promising and attracting investment that, I have to admit, make the investors really happy. In other words, I make my living by making others richer.” He hoped that he managed to spark at least the smallest interest, since he felt somewhat hesitant to resort to the more taxing arts before he knew it was worth it. Crismento looked at the creature with an expression that he wanted to appear as an innocent curiosity. "If I have earned any points by now, would you, perhaps, be willing to at least share your name with me?"

[Verilian]

. . Thread Award . . Crismento Miren Your portion of the thread cannot be graded at this time. You must first update your CS, including paying living expenses for any season in which you posted in. Once your CS is up to date, you may resubmit the thread for grading. Irriari +1 Socialization +1 Interrogation Lores: Nicholas Raes the Businessman, You Question My Logic? : Not much I could give here. If you have questions, feel free to ask. Notes: And maybe we'll bring back Cris too! Grading all these old threads is bringing back so many memories, lol. Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.