Weighing Options

by **Wanda Endust** on March 8th, 2014, 7:28 pm

Traveler's Row
3 Spring 514AV
11th Bell

NoteCaravan and leader NPC'd with permission from DS Radiant.

So where did she go from here? Wanda had good enough sense to recognize Traveler's Row would be the right place to look for... well, travelers. But, as the crowds grew thicker and the air somehow grew both colder from the openness and warmer from the body heat, she realized that she'd forgotten an essential piece of information.

Where was she hoping to go? As much as she hated to admit it, she had the distinct feeling that this was one thing that she'd better plan for. There were arrangements to be made, she knew, but what kinds of arrangements?

Yes, she'd made up her mind -- by the end of the season, she would be gone from Syliras. Not necessarily to anywhere else (good gods, even she wasn't that clueless), but definitely somewhere else. Now came the choices.

Zeltiva seemed like the best option, really. Besides the fact that it was the only other city she could pretend to know anything about, it was her father's birthplace. Of course, Jarvis Endust hadn't actually shared much about his hometown. Would she be able to find relatives there? Would she even want to find relatives there?

Perhaps not. Wanda was doing this -- going on this journey -- to find out who she was, not to seek out more family to grow attached to and dependent upon. The only person she wanted to depend on was herself, her own talents and skills. And what if she did find family there? Would she take that chance? Ah, then again, she wouldn't even have to meet them, would she? Cities were big. Huge, right? In Syliras, it was easy enough to blend into the crowd. Why would Zeltiva be any different? If there were any more Endusts, they wouldn't even realize Wanda was there. In fact, they wouldn't even know who she was. Just another city-goer...

But it wasn't a matter of whether or not they would find her. No, Wanda knew full well that if she herself came cross another Endust name, she wouldn't be able to help herself. She'd be drawn like a moth to a torch. Any progress she might've made to become independent would go up in flames, blinding her from her goals as she spiraled right back down to where she'd already been.

No, she refused to take that risk. From here on out, Wanda would have to focus only on herself and her own wants. Going to Zeltiva might make sense, but it just didn't sit right in her gut. Everything in this decision already had to be so calculated -- at the very least, she could choose a destination that wasn't so painfully rational.

This was about what Wanda wanted. She didn't want to be predictable.

~ Wanda ~

by **Wanda Endust** on March 9th, 2014, 12:45 am

"Excuse me! Hey. Hi. Do you know of any caravans or groups leaving Syliras this season? Or anytime soon?" Wanda stopped a man who didn't seem in any particular rush, and he certainly didn't seem to be too upset after he got a good look at the "lady" who'd pulled him away. He couldn't have been too much older than the girl, probably early or mid twenties.

Wanda hoped he was a traveler himself, and he certainly looked the part. Dark hair, dark skin, and dark eyes should have marked him as foreign-born, but it was always difficult to tell with a population so diverse. Still, what set him apart was his sense of style. Much about him seemed as if it were chosen specifically to stand out -- plenty of facial piercings and bright colors, and Wanda almost found herself wincing as she gave him a once-over.

The fellow returned the look with a furrowed brow despite the tight-lipped, lopsided smile on his mouth. "Leaving Syliras, hrm?" He brought a hand to his chin, then to his temple as the endless trickle of people continued to mill about and stream past. Some griped about them being in the way.

"Eh, I heard there's a group of hunters going on a stint to the woods in a couple days..." he offered with a shrug.

Right. "That's... not really what I'm on about," she explained, resting a hand on her own shoulder. "Anyone going to another city?"

"Oh! There's a group -- probably fifteen people or so -- supposed to be setting off shortly for, uh, whatchamacallit. Moonbirth? Sunshirt? Eh. Sunberth! That's it." He nodded decidedly.

Wanda lifted an eyebrow in surprise. It certainly hadn't taken as long to find a suitable situation as she'd figured. And Sunberth? Sun-birth? How bad could a place be, with that name? It sounded as good of an option as anything else. Of course, there wasn't anything else. Yet.

"D'you know when they're leaving? Who should I talk to?" She would have to find out who the leader of the group was, right? Would they let her join? She didn't have much to offer besides her mizas and her hands...

"Hm? Oh, I think they're getting ready to set off in a couple chimes. Could probably catch 'em before they go if you hurry."

Oh dear petching Syna's light. Wanda's hands swung up to her face, which she buried into her palms in exasperation. "Then why mention it?" she sighed, more in annoyance than in anger.

The man wasn't so much of a fool that he didn't notice the girl's disappointment, and began turning away. "Eh, sorry? Just trying to help."

~ Wanda ~

by **Wanda Endust** on March 11th, 2014, 11:27 pm

Of course, Wanda should have known it wouldn't be that easy. She lifted her face, waving the man away with a fluttering and and a small shake of her head. He, in turn, now looked glad to leave her company and soon faded into the rest of the billowing Syliran crowd.

What could she do besides keep right on searching? After all, was it really that much of a disappointment to fail on the first try? Certainly not, when it was that other fellow's fault for being so... eh. Even Wanda wasn't that dense. But she hadn't really been particularly clear with her question had she? And it had been she who'd stopped him for questioning, after all.

Why was she even dwelling on it? The had been no harm or foul -- the exchange had barely taken any time at all. Wanda straightened her shoulders and brushed a loose lock of golden hair from her eyes. Best get to work. Real work. She had the distinct feeling that she would be in for a long afternoon of pestering perfectly random strangers.

But before she could pounce on anyone else, Wanda felt a courteous, attention-seeking tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me, miss."

Oh no. Oh no oh no. Was it a knight? Certainly she hadn't done anything wrong. Certainly. Asking questions of passers-by was not illegal. Not as far as she knew. She was standing still in the midst of the milling crowd, but she wasn't particularly in the way either. She was small -- that man there toting a hand cart full of hay had plenty of room to get around.

Wanda didn't recognize the man she saw when she casually turned to face the speaker, but she did recognize the fact that he would've been easily recognizable if she had known him. His dark skin stood out immediately to Wanda -- she'd seen people of similar tones before, but they seemed to be few and far between in the city as far as she could tell. His smooth-shaven head shone in Syna's late morning light and contrasted starkly against his close-cropped beard (which was only just beginning to show a few gray hairs). He had both of his ears pierced and, for a man, that seemed strange to Wanda. Still, it was obvious despite his stern-looking features that he was no knight. He wore only sun aged leathers and carried no weapon at his side.

"Hm?" Wanda lifted her eyebrows in curious expectation. What could this man want with her? She was sure that, just as she didn't know him, he did not know her. Unless he was an old client, in which case her reaction would be embarrassing. Surely that wasn't the case -- she would have remembered his face.

The fellow raised his own brow at her minimal response, frowned slightly, and then suddenly broke into a smile full of practiced charm and charisma. Wanda felt herself return the gesture unwittingly -- she simply couldn't help herself. "Yes, hello," he began in a friendly tone that did not match the almost austere expression he'd been wearing just ticks ago. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with the young man," he motioned with a thick hand in the direction the mentioned fellow had retreated, "just now. You are looking for a group with which to travel?"

Ah! Wanda's face immediately brightened, and what had begun as a small reciprocal smile evolved into a full-blown grin. "I am! Do you know of one? I'm not lookin' to get to any place specific, I just want to go somewhere else."

The man chuckled slightly. "I suppose you could say I know of one -- but, ah, let's get out of these poor peoples' way before we discuss anything in detail." He motioned her towards the nearest wall, and the traffic seemed relieved that it no longer had to dodge around the pair.

~ Wanda ~

by **Wanda Endust** on March 12th, 2014, 12:38 am

The way the man talked -- deep, confident -- gave off the impression that he was used to being followed, and a part of Wanda contested with that notion. She'd always had a problem with authority figures, hadn't she? And here was another such fellow, whom she'd hardly even met, and he was... well, not really bossy. Perhaps it was just Wanda's oversensitive imagination making him seem so.

So she did follow him and, out of the way, they continued.

"So you do know of one?"

"Yes, of course. I'm going to be leading a caravan out of the city in a number of days -- but don't you perhaps think it's a silly idea you have, to 'just want to go somewhere else'?" he posed, coking an incredulous eyebrow. "You don't know where in all the gods' land we could be going."

Wanda crossed her arms and shrugged in that seemingly apathetic way teenagers do. "Hey, I don't need a chaperone, m'kay? All I want to do is go somewhere else, and it's my fault if I get killed doin' it." Really, all she wanted to do now was leave. Right now, she believed that any place would be better than Syliras -- not that she'd grown to dislike Syliras, but, like her mother had told her, it was about time for her to stop letting fear of what might happen stand in the way of getting what she wanted.

What did Wanda want, though? She had no clue. Right now all she wanted to do was leave.

The man shrugged just as well. "Well, if you travel with us it'll be my fault if you get killed. Either way..." he finally offered his large hand in greeting, "Eterous Page." She took the introduction to mean that he wouldn't try to keep her from traveling with the caravan, and took his hand with gusto.

His fingers practically swallowed her own before breaking away. "Wanda Endust," she returned, flashing her customary lopsided grin.

"Pleasure to meet you. Anyhow, yes, back to business."

Wanda, on her part, could hardly believe her luck. A task she'd expected to take nearly a bell on, possibly longer, had taken her no longer than... what, fifteen chimes? No matter how she felt about his authoritative demeanor, she was grateful to the man for approaching her. They were on to business. If things went according to plan, Wanda would actually be leaving. It would no longer be just a thought.

There were a multitude of questions Wanda wanted to ask (Where were they going? How long would it take to get there? How many people in the caravan? Why were they traveling? What was traveling like? What supplies would she need?) and Eterous tried to settle into his spiel before she could get a word out of her mouth.

"We'll be traveling to Nyka --"

"Where's that?" Wanda interjected.

Eterous, caught off guard, blinked for a second before replying, "To the North and East a ways. Now, it will --"

"How long'll it take?"

"I'm getting to that. It will take maybe sixty days if the traveling is good, and a probably around seventy if it's not. I should mention that the going rate for traveling with us is five silver mizas per day."

Wait, what? Wanda had to pay? Well, she supposed it made sense. She was essentially paying for an escort through gods-know-what. So it was thirty-five gold at the most? That shouldn't be too much of a problem. After all, now that she was only having to provide for herself, the wages she earned from the Soothing Waters were more than enough. Really, it was the most money she'd seen in her life -- what could she possibly spend nearly a thousand gold mizas on?

Still, she didn't know what kind of things she would need to buy for the trip. There was no use in spending more than she absolutely had to here, and Wanda happened to have a special way to get what she wanted.

It was as irresponsible a use of Hypnotism as any -- probably one of the most (if not the most) careless instances she'd ever done. Still, she shifted her focus outward, specifically prodding her sphere of influence towards Eterous with her djed. For a moment Wanda wondered if the man would notice her looking at him oddly (she was -- essentially staring) as she tried to reach both inward to her own core and outward to mentally touch upon him. Eterous's brow was furrowing before Wanda even spoke.

"Can't you give me some kind of discount?"

"No, everyone pays the same. We have to be fair."

Well that was certainly disappointing. What had gone wrong? Wanda was sure her focus had been good enough. But... the wording of her request had been off somehow. Wanda pursed her lips.

~ Wanda ~

by **Wanda Endust** on March 12th, 2014, 12:42 am

Eterous dismissed her words and continued. "We have about thirty people going already, including a few hired guards. Since you said you don't really care where you're going, I'm going to skip telling you about the city. Do you have a horse?"

"Huh? Oh. Uh, no. Not yet."

"Get one."

"...Alright." Wanda had already assumed she would be needing one no matter where she went. Looked like she'd be making a trip to the stables.

"Get a tent, too. Really, just ask around for any kind of survival gear people are selling."

Wanda was still trying to figure out exactly what had failed in her magic -- was it because she hadn't provided him with a reason to give her a discount? -- but was still paying enough attention to the conversation. "Okay."

"Do you have a weapon?"

"Do I... what?" That got her attention. "Do I look like I have a weapon?" She frowned, crossing her arms. Violence. Violence, violence, violence. She hated it, but she was usually okay with other people trying to get at each others' throats because, for the most part, it helped keep her employed. But she had never considered taking up a blade herself.

"Get one."

"But --"

"Get one," he urged, and the look in his eyes told Wanda that he was serious. "Trust me. You will need it." He let his meaning sink in. Then, "We'll be leaving on the 15th, at the 5th bell sharp."

Well. It certainly looked like Wanda was in for a rough season.

~ Wanda ~

by **Radiant** on March 16th, 2014, 3:13 pm

Wanda :

Notes :

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+2 XP
Socialization	+2 XP
Rhetoric	+1 XP
Investigation	+1 XP
Hypnotism	+1 XP
Subterfuge	+1 XP

Completed Weighing Options