Instruments of change~

[Cylos Marn]

11th of Fall, 513 A.V.

It had been days now since Cy had returned to the city, days that he had spent stuck within the overcrowded halls of Syliras Citadel. The cramped conditions were slowly beginning to get to him, driving him increasingly stir crazy. Eventually his admittedly thin patience wore even thinner, and soon ran out. He was forced to ask one of the knights for direction," Sir knight, you would not happen to know of a more... open area within the cities walls would you?"

The knight, a giant of a man in full knightly regalia, chuckled good naturedly... decidedly odd coming from one such as he," Feeling the crush are ye? Don't you worry none though, that feeling will fade... Eventually." Cy could just make out a hing of a smile through the mans faceplate, but chose not to comment. The knight, for his part, merely chuckled again and pointed to the floor, or more accurately, what was beneath their feet," Try the grand Bazaar friend. You wont find it any less crowded, but it might be a bit less... claustrophobic than the rest of the city."

Cy nodded and thanked the man before heading out, his attention lost while he was deep in thought. The bazaar would be a good place for him to get acquainted with, if he was going to hunt in the area he needed to know the shop keepers he might find himself interacting with. And it wouldn't do him any harm to get out and spend some of the gold he had saved so fastidiously over the last few years in preparation for his leaving home...

[Eada Vine]

Eada hadn't been to the Great Bazaar many time since arriving in Syliras, but she loved it here. The rows of shops seemed to overflow with colorful goods and treasures. Eada wore her simple black trousers and white shirt, but she longed for a dress, like the kind she had in Ravok. But those were destroyed. She ran her finger over some dark green material. This was why she didn't come to the bazaar often. It made her want to spend.

"Anything take your fancy?" The storekeeper said, gesturing to the wonderful dresses. Eada sighed at the silky green dress. "That one, for you, will only cost 20 gm." Eada smiled and declined. That was way out of budget, maybe one day, she thought. She didn't even know why she had come here today, to get tempted by the goods? No, she needed some warmer clothes in preparation for winter, particularly if it was going to be as rainy as the last few weeks had been. But silk dresses weren't on her list - unfortunately.

She moved away from the stall and weaved between the other goods. There were birds in cages that flapped and squawked as she past. She knew there was the music stall around here somewhere, but for her own good she should avoid that: if she stumbled upon it, she could spend ages pouring over the instruments, particularly the fiddles. But the other instruments were so beautiful too. She could see so much potential in each one, she longed to be able to play another. She shook her head. The problem with avoiding a stall is that they had moved slightly between Eada's last visit. There wasn't a way of knowing whether she would turn up next to it or not.

[Cylos Marn]

The knight had been right... The Grand Bazaar was just as crowded as the rest of the city, possibly even more so, which Cy had barely believed possible. But there was an openness, likely due to the higher ceilings and lighter atmosphere. And to distract him from the cramped conditions there was a certain awe instilled by so many various wares being packed into so small a place, and the sheer variety of races represented here.

And all around him there was a hum of people, the call of hawkers eager to draw in any potential customers, haggling and heated arguments abound... The flow of people through the streets was unending, oppressive, like the tides of the ocean in constant ebb and flow. For a moment Cy wondered if he would be lost at sea, never to find his way up again. Soon enough though he found a lull in the constant noise and motion and stepped out of the crowd, leaning lightly against a convenient wall. Yeah, this place had a different feel than the rest of the city, and he had almost let himself get lost in it.

Cy chuckled a little at himself before giving his head a rigorous shake to clear it. In this press of people he would need a beacon, something to focus on so that he would not get lost in the crowds and end up gods knows where... One presented itself relatively quickly as a few lilting notes reached his small alcove of calm, a voice rising over the crowd, some instrument playing in accompaniment. He grinned, and decided that a bit of music would do him some good.A quick look around revealed no easy way to make his way to the source so, with a heavy sigh, the hunter dived back into the sea of people and waded his way through... following that musical voice e'er onwards.

It took him a good twenty minutes or so to fight his way through the press of people to the source of that wonderful music, which had long since ended. Luckily he had marked the direction of the sound and followed it, hoping for the best. So when he popped out of the crowd to find himself in front of a small stall, covered from edge to edge with beautiful instruments, he was only mildly surprised. The woman selling the instruments though, was even more striking.

As he came tumbling out of the crowd she gave him a smile and gestured to her wares," Anything take your fancy?" It took Cy a moment to collect himself, but eventually he gave her a grin," Just browsing ma'am." It would probably be bad form for him to say, Certainly!, and glance at her suggestively. The thought made him blush a little and he gingerly picked up a nearby instrument to distract himself... Soon though he was lost in the small thrumming of the instrument in his hands, not that anything that was coming out could even be remotely called music. Still he was thoroughly entranced, and effectively lost to the world...

[Eada Vine]

oocI'm really sorry, but Eada would just be arriving in Syliras on the 8th! Maybe like the 10th or 11th or 12th? Sorry to be a nuisance!

"Sorry," Eada said as she bumped into an oldish woman who scuttled out from behind a stall. Eada had almost sent the various brick-a-brack the woman clutched in her arms flying across the market. The woman shot her a sour look and hurried off. Sor-ry, Eada thought, pulling a face at the woman's back. She hadn't meant to walk into her. Now there was only the question of how to get out of this place. She glanced around the labyrinth of stalls and the people bustling between them. "Hey, hey." A man gestured to her to come over. "Hey pretty girl, I have a necklace here that would look so beautiful on that neck." Eada pulled up her hood - the one she had bought here before: dark green and trimmed with lace.

She paused, trying to get her bearings - getting lost was becoming an unfortunate habit - and a sound caught her attention. Someone was strumming on an instrument. Eada smiled: strumming badly on an instrument. She stepped closer to the sound and found herself facing a music stall - the one she had been avoiding. The woman on the stall smiled at her and they exchanged an amused look about the man holding the lute. Eada watched him for a moment. He had dark hair and a rugged kind of look. He wasn't the kind of man Eada would expect to be experimenting with a lute.

She cleared her throat, revealing her presence to the man. "I'm guessing you don't play that?" she said, smiling.

[Cylos Marn]

Cy was startled, to say the least, at the sudden intrusion into his reverie. There was not telling how long he had been standing there strumming ineffectively on that beautifully carved lute, but he was certain that it had been more than enough time to make a fool of himself and draw the attention of several onlookers... He waited a moment, looking over the instrument with a small smile before putting it back in its place in the shopkeepers stall.

When he finally managed to tear his eyes away from the carved and gilded instruments before him he caught a glimpse of the shopkeep's wry grin. He noticed though that it was not exactly directed at him, but at the voice which had originally startled him. With a tight smile and increasingly reddening cheeks he turned to the woman behind him, the rather stunning woman he found, and answered," Aye you'd be right at that. In fact, I don't play any of this."

Cy's arm waved back, a gesture meant to encompass the entire shop before he laughed at himself for a moment," Though I'm certain you can tell that from the gods awful sound I was making." He followed through with a small shrug and a longing look at the instruments," Actually that was the first time I've ever had a chance to mess around with a real instrument. It was... nice."

oocSorry it took me a while to reply, I was off on Thanksgiving break with the family. No internet access for the whole week >_<

[Eada Vine]

oocDon't worry about it! We don't celebrate thanksgiving here, but it sounds fun!

Eada smiled at the poor man. He looked slightly embarrassed at being noticed, but not so much that Eada felt bad for commenting. She chuckled and was tempted to add, yes it wasn't pretty, but she refrained. He looked so happy with the strings beneath his fingertips, even if he was steadily destroying the music. But his final sentence was so pitiful and Eada tilted her head subconsciously, her eyebrows rising. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," she said and smiled. "If only the rest of us had done." She winked and shot him a smile, to ensure he knew she was teasing.

She glanced at the people around the bazaar, but none of them were paying much mind. Even the shop keeper had gone back to arranging her instruments, checking each one looked inviting. And they did. Eada's fingers twitched as she looked at the fiddles, but she didn't need a new fiddle, even if she could afford one. Hers was a little battered after the years on her mother's shoulder, but it still played fine.

"I don't play that," she gestured to the lute he had put down. "But I'm not so deprived as to not play anything." Eada pulled down her hood and untucked her dark hair. She was so tempted to pick up one of the fiddles and demonstrate her playing, but she pulled back the impulse. As a child she had been very good at boasting, but she was beginning to learn that it wasn't an admirable trait. Besides, it would be so embarrassing if she went wrong and the shop keeper probably wouldn't want anyone handling the goods and leaving without buying anything. "I'm Eada." She pulled off her glove and held a hand out to the man.