Hogging It (Pt.2)

by **Ixzo** on November 2nd, 2015, 6:20 pm

52nd of Autumn, 515AV
6th Bell, Morning
The Spit Fire

Once the stranger had left, Ixzo found herself standing in front of the early morning activities of the Spit Fire. As usual, the lioness was utterly confused on how to go about getting her kill skinned. Unlike her last kill, traded to a kind stranger, Ixzo learned she would earn more by bringing it here. At the spit fire, they supposedly would pay for every usable part.

"Hello." She said to someone who passed her. The woman looked at Ixzo, and down at her kill for a moment before pausing.

"If you would like to get it… skinned," Poor pelt. "You should talk to Ronir. He'll help you." She said and then seemed to pause, a questioning look on her face. Foreigner She asked. And it took Ixzo a minute to recognize the word, which spoke enough, before she nodded.

"You come find me when you get payed. I want his tusks, and I will have something for you." Trade and a few other quick words were signed, the woman seeming to make up her mind, not really relying on Ixzo to agree or not. Ixzo looked to her hand to see she had bought meat, but she wanted the pig's tusks, for what reason? Did it matter? Ixzo had briefly though of making a dagger from them, but her efforts of a poorly made weapon would not compare to what this might trade for, especially since the woman seemed to want them specifically.

"Where?" Ixzo asked, keeping her vocabulary limited to no more than two or three words for each sentence.

"Ask for Jeselo." She signed something.

"What?" Not understanding. She signed, unsure of what she had signed.

"The market." She repeated the sign. "Go to the market and ask for me, Jeselo. I make clothes, if you give me those tusks, I will give you clothes." She clarified, speaking slower and not using signs so that Ixzo could better understand. The Kelvic far and beyond understood more than she could speak or sign, but it helped to have people slow down for her. A grin broke across her face and Ixzo eagerly nodded.

"I will, I will." She confirmed and the Drykas woman looked at her like she was an amused child. "I am Ixzo." She held out her hand. Jeselo only looked at it a moment before shaking her palm.

"See you soon, Ixzo." Ixzo grinned widely at the woman, before she turned away. With her gone, Ixzo now had to look for Ronir. Of course it didn't take long for her to be sitting in front of a butcher with a large pig for someone who could actually work on it to approach her.

by **Ixzo** on November 2nd, 2015, 6:21 pm

"Need help?" The man stepped forward, salt and pepper beard offering up a polite smile. Ixzo nodded, motioning towards the pig.

"Need to skin." She carefully sounded out the words. Please. The sign followed her words and after the man looked down at her kill.

"The pelt is… shyke, did you kill this?"

"Skin bad, meat good. Blood gone." She explained, bending down to pick at the holes in the boar's neck where her teeth had punctured him, and where he had bleed out on the drag home. But the man only looked confused for a bit. "Meat good." She emphasized, wiping the slightly bloody finger on her shift. Help skin. She offered, tilting her head at the man.

"Alright, you can help. But you're going to have to tell me how you got this thing. It's pelt is utterly mauled." He then turned away, shouting something too quick for her to pick up. A younger boy and girl showed up, looking uncertain at the boar and then at her. Apprentices probably, Ixzo shrugged as they looked back from the kill to her. The claw marks and the mauled neck was nothing she could claim to have done in her human form. But, she was rather proud at how clean the kill was for her lion hunting. She managed to keep most of the damage to the neck, where it would affect the meat the least.

"Alright, everyone grab a leg." It didn't quite take four to drag the pig into the tent, and tie it's hind-legs up to a meat hook and raise it. But Ixzo tried to help as best she could.

"I help." She said again, trying to speak to the man now. She pointed to him once more. You. "I help." She insisted, and the man finally sighed.

"Alright, you can help out." He turned to the apprentices and waved them away with a single sign. Ixzo grinned at him.

by **Ixzo** on November 2nd, 2015, 6:23 pm

First, head. He signed simply, picking up a large machete-looking knife. With an uncanny practiced ease, he swung the blade towards the neck. Obediently, the flesh gave way to the hacks, and he crouched down to grab the boar's ear, pulling it down to get better visual on how deep it was going. Ixzo crouched as well, watching his work. Once all the flesh had been separated, the man wiped the blade on the thigh of his leather apron, setting it back down. He picked up large pinchers and turned to her.

"Hold his head down, I'm going to cut the bone."[/b] He instructed, Ixzo crawled forward, pulling the boar's ear's down so that the separated neck opened, giving a clear view of the vertebrae.

"Man, something petched him up." He whistled and Ixzo chuckled to herself as he reached in with the pinchers. A giddy crack of bone followed and the weight of the pig's head fell into her arms. There was a small puddle of blood soaking into the grass beneath the boar, and Ixzo showed the man the head.

"Here, just put it there. Gale will come by and take care of it while I do the rest." He instructed and it took Ixzo a moment to recognize the words before going to place the head on the table of tools. She turned back to the man, but he seemed to pause, the boar swinging slightly from the hook it was on. "So how did you get the boar?" he asked her, dipping the blades of the pinched in a bucket of water and swishing them around before placing them back on the table.

"I kill." She shrugged, blinking her dry eyes a few times.

"This morning?"

"Night." Hunt. She answered.

by **Ixzo** on November 2nd, 2015, 6:23 pm

"You killed this? Looks likes some… cat killed it."

"I am… cat." She explained. Lion. "I kill."[/b] She restated, crossing her arms, a little mad he didn't believe her. She watched as the gears grinded in his head for a moment, disbelief so clear in his features. Her furrowed brows relaxed as she watched realization come to his face.

"Kelvic?" He pointed at her and Ixzo nodded. The man seemed to accept the messy kill much easier now, turning back to the table and picking up a very sharp looking knife. "You've been hunting all night? You're not a…. Night lion?" He looked at her sideways, sharp knife gripped in his hand. Ixzo hesitated, silver eyes falling on the blade. Fatigue was quickly taking over now that she was still, and the lioness felt her weight shift involuntarily, taking a step back to steady herself.

"Yes." She finally answered, crossing her arms.

"You need some sleep." He simply stated, turning away from her. With the sharp knife he peirced the pig's belly, splitting it open past the thick and fatty tissue with ease. "Bucket." He commanded as if she was an experience apprentice, and Ixzo scrambled for a bucket, placing it down in front of him, just as he was pulling organs out of the crevice.

"Gale!" He shouted and the boy apprentice looked over from across the tent, making his way back over to them. Ixzo tried to keep up as Ronir spoke quickly to the boy, only catching 'rest', 'back' and 'tusks'. His hands were occupied digging out organs, so she didn't get any hints from the sign. The boy nodded, turning to Ixzo. Come with me. He signed.

The cat hesitated a moment, but Gale wasted no time, turning towards the back of the butchering tent. Carefully Ixzo followed him past a flap into a much smaller tent. There seemed to be stations set up for preservation, but the boy lead her past them through another flap and into an even small tent, where she saw a few chests and a low couch.

"Ronir said to sleep." Gale turned to her, motioning towards the couch. "We will have your tusks and coin this afternoon." He said, nervous by the tall woman. Just as quickly as he rushed out the words, the boy signed a quick goodbye and left through the flap they had entered. It took only Ixzo a few seconds to make up her mind. As far as she knew the Drykas wouldn't kill her for being a lion, but at the moment the Kelvic cared very little about the possibility of such a threat. The couch, however, was very real. The soft cushions sitting there, inviting her to lay down.

Hesitating no longer, Ixzo sunk into the cushions, seemingly slipping into sleep before her head even hit the pillow.

by **Ixzo** on November 2nd, 2015, 6:23 pm

52nd of Autumn, 515AV
6th Bell, Morning
The Spit Fire

The tent was dim when Ixzo woke. Suddenly worried, the Kelvic sprang up, silver eyes adjusting to the light. It was not bright like noon, yet not close to being dark like evening. She no longer felt as if she would fall over on her feet, but she remembered her boar, and the offer by the woman… Jesello. Worried, Ixzo slinked across the room, peaking through the flap that lead to the preservation tent. There was one person in there, his back towards her. Quietly, Ixzo slipped between the canvas, guiding it back in place herself to keep the noise down. Staying crouched, Ixzo flicked her silver orbs between the back and the next entrance. Not looking through this flap, she slid through the canvas, guiding it quietly back once more and turned to look at the room. The sun outside suggested it was still early afternoon, and Ixzo exhaled in relief.

Looking for her boar, she saw no pigs raised on the meat hooks. Another hunter was getting a deer skinned, but the active morning crowd was gone. Panicking Ixzo looked for Ronir, finding the man at the counter, fiddling with something. With more energy now, Ixzo used her long legs to practically run over to him, stopping at his side. The Drykas looked up, seemingly unaffected by her quick appearance.

"Good, you got some sleep." He signed something and turned back to what he was fiddling with. The boar's two tusks were picked up and placed in her hands along with a small leather sack. "Your boar was one-hundred, thirty pounds. The pelt was no good, but we got nearly eight pounds of meat out of it." Good kill. He grinned. Ixzo smiled, pulling the string on the leather pouch open to pear at the mizas inside.

"Much?" She questioned, digging out a gold rimmed coin, and grinning with a small victory. It didn’t' seem to be a lot of coin, but she was happy with all she could get.

"Twenty-one gold, six silver, four copper. Everything down to the last copper is there for you." She looked up at the change in his tone. It was almost sad, and her brows furrowed. "You need anything else, let me know." Ixzo clutched her loot to her chest.

"Need no more." She said sternly. She had already gotten enough charity, and this was getting embarrassing now.

"Let me know." His tone returned to casual and he waved the offer away. See you around. He signed, stepping away from the counter. She knew it wasn't exactly right to be frustrated. He was trying to be helpful. But Ixzo wasn't terribly fond of not earning things, probably because of how she was raised. She would have though the Drykas, given their connection with nature, would have been similar in that regard.

Huffing to herself, the kelvic left the Spit Fire. She had to find Jeselo, in the market now.

by **Ixzo** on November 2nd, 2015, 6:24 pm

It took nearly a bell of asking around before someone could point her in the direction of Jeselo's stall, and as she neared she heard her name called. The Kelvic's head snapped to the side to see who was calling her, and met gaze with the Drykas woman from earlier.

"Wasn’t expecting you to come." She said, eyeing Ixzo's loot. My tusks. She grinned at Ixzo and she copied the expression, following her into her tent. Ixzo placed the tusks on the counter but tucked her purse into her armpit. Jeselo signed something and Ixzo could only look dumb for a moment as she tried to process the unknown word.

"How tall are you?"

"Umm…" Ixzo paused, she wasn't actually sure.

"I guess we will see, try these on." The woman threw cloth at Ixzo and the lioness grabbed it once it had plastered itself across her chest. Maneuvering the leather coin-purse to her palm, she held out the garment, seeing the leather trousers. She tried not to grimace at the restricting cloth, pulling it over her legs and wiggling into the garments.

"Perfect, now I might have made the shirt too small, so try this on." Another piece of clothing was tossed towards Ixzo, and the Kelvic stuffed the coin-purse into one of the pockets of her new trousers. Shrugging out of the shift, Ixzo placed that on the counter by the tusks.

"Don't change here!" Jeselo rushed forward, shooing Ixzo towards a cloth that was draped across the top of the tent, covering the back. Ixzo didn't understand why she had to stand specifically there to change, but shrugged. Opening the blouse, she tried to fit into it, but once she got it on, there was no hope moving her shoulders.

"Oh no, it is too small." The woman signed something, helping Ixzo out of it, and turning around. The seamstress whirled towards a rack of clothes, sorting through them. Ixzo wandered out from behind the curtain, not bothering to cover her top and looked around while the woman searched. There were two swaths of clothe hanging on the wall, and Ixzo picked up the plain linen one, deciding to use it as a bandeau. She twisted one end of the clothe, wrapping it around her breasts and tucking the end in on the side. Simple.

Ixo turned back towards the woman who gave her a questioning look. "Dear, that is barely undergarments." She said. Too cold. She signed and Ixzo nodded, she didn’t really know how to dress for the cold. Jeselo whirled around, snagging a fur garment from a hook and brining it over to her. Ixzo shrugged the fur vest on, straining to pull her hair from the collar and out of the way.

"I know what to do with that." Jeselo twirled a dread, reaching up and grabbing a crimson swatch of cloth. Lean down. Ixzo did so and with expert hands Jeselo scooped up her long dreads, twisting them into the clothe. After a few ticks of her head being tugged in all direction, Jeselo patted her shoulder, letting Ixzo stand up once more. Much to her appreciation, her messy hair, which she had yet to get a chance to properly groom, was out of her face, relieving her shoulders from suppression. She did feel oddly unbalanced as all her hair was folded ontop of her head, but Ixzo grinned anyway.

She picked up a plate of metal and pointed it at Ixzo, who admired the up-do in the mirror. She gave an approving grin to the woman.

"Now, for all that I need a little more than just he tusks." [shadow=#ff9369]Mizas[/shadow. "Ummm.." The woman's fingers twitched as her eyes grazed the woman's outfit once more. The woman turned to the counter, pulling out a bag from beneath it and emptying the contents on the table. She stuffed Ixzo's dirty shift and razor inside, and handed it to the Kelvic. "Three gold, six silver, eight copper." She said, handing Ixzo the backpack. Ixzo took it gratefully, and had little issue dealing out the coins, even though she didn't have much remaining.

"You come back anytime." The woman walked around the counter, patting the Kelvic on the shoulder. Ixzo grinned, happy to go along with the ride and followed her out of the tent. "Good luck!" She gave another unique greeting that Ixzo had never saw and the Kelvic returned it with a generally 'so-long', stepping out into the market place.

She didn't have anywhere to go, but she had money in her pocket and fresh clothes on her back. It took the kelvic only a tick to head towards the nearest scent of food as evening set in

Price Calculations :

Receipt :

by **Tribal** on November 21st, 2015, 8:59 am

G R A D E S

Ixzo

Experience

Socialisation: 5
Rhetoric: 2
Negotiation: 1
Observation: 3
Butchery: 1
Logic: 1
Intimidation: 1
Stealth: 1
Investigation: 2

Lore

Jesello: The seamstress
Drykas: Basic trade systems
The basics of butchering a boar
Drykas: Generous people
Pavi: Signs for animal parts
Pavi: Signs for decade numbers
Pavi: Signs for currency
Drykas fashion
Location: Endrykas Marketplace

Notes

Numbers seem good to me. I like how the second part of the story worked out. Enjoy the rewards! I could have sworn Butchery was on the skill list and now it isn't, what to do, what to do?