Closed A Quest and a Query for Wine (Kawari)

[Allassanachassanya]

Fall 19th, 516 AV
Inside the Wolf's Cave
Sometime during early evening
"Speech"

There was a rather relaxed, quiet atmosphere to the Cave that evening. Ssanya was taking advantage of this and was relaxing in the corner, a little fatigued after a long day at the Bizarre, but awake and active nonetheless. In her hand resided a glass of fruit juice. She had yet to ask for her favourite drink, and she'd had a brief glance over the drink selection only to be disappointed. Yet, she still hoped that there would be wine somewhere in this establishment...

For now though, she was finishing off the final sips of her drink, and people-watching. Although the Wolf's Cave had been a good place to live so far, she was slightly disgusted at the amount of Kelvics in the place. That race weren't her favourite, a stance stemming from her childhood in the nest in Ekytol. She looked around a little, spotting a figure that looked like a Zith, another that looked vaguely like a human dressed in furs. As in, hardly dressed at all- which wasn't something that bothered her, not really. In the nest after all, there was hardly any need for clothes. Not for modesty, at least.

Soon though, the fruit drink in her hand was finished. With a lazy pull of the chair she stood up, cutting a small figure as she wove through the small crowd towards the bar. She soon reached it, and leant over the counter until a server was ready to serve her.
"Could I have a glassss of wine?"
the server looked apologetic, and Ssanya stared flatly as the woman replied in the negative. It was odd, but something about the woman's toothy grin angered her. And it was totally without reason that a bar wouldn't have wine in stock, for Siku's sake.
"Ssserious? No wine."
Again, the woman shook her head.
"You can have another fruit juice if you'd prefer?" the woman smiled, as if that would be a decent replacement.

With growing frustration, Ssanya tried to reason with the woman, to no avail. Apparently they really didn't have wine. If she had wanted it before, she needed it now. It was one of those cases where knowing you couldn't have something meant you wanted it even more. With a huff of breath hissed through her teeth, she placed her hand down very calmly on the bar, and brushed her hair from her face.
"If you can't ssserve me what I assk... then I'll take my cusss- my meezzas sssomewhere elsse!"

[Kawari Newid]

The streets had only just darkened by the time Kawari returned to the Wolf's Cave. Her footsteps were light as she hummed a lively tune, in high spirits from a productive day at Kal's Kiln. Three picnic sets, ten tankards, several bowls, and even a pipe were either freshly trimmed, burnished or smoothed, that would be left to dry until the next bisque firing, alongside to the ten plates, sixteen jars, and five jugs that had been left to dry out over night or two before they went into the glaze kiln. In addition, for once her appearance wasn't be-speckled and splattered with clay- at least, it was unnoticeably so unless one looked too closely. She could have passed for a regular town's person, if there was such a thing in the City of Illusions, in terms of attire, though perhaps on the less-colourful side.
Days of such successes often made her giddy with glee and in the mood to celebrate with one of her favourite beverages: wine. A grin lit her expression at the thought of the prized beverage, but cooled ever so slightly as her light steps drew her to the entrance of the Watering Hole. Here, she was met by dim lighting and scents of various kinds- animal, meat, vegetation, ale, and sweet fruits, among others that were still unknown to her.

As she entered the cavernous space, Kawari looked around with a hint of caution- almost seamlessly hidden behind a friendly demeanour and her usual curious gaze. Despite having lived at the Cave for over half a season, some of the patrons still set her on edge- not in outright fear, but out of wariness. Some, she was certain, would not hesitate to view her as prey had they met under different circumstances. Relaxing her posture, the tanuki made her way over to the bar with even steps, and smiled more widely as familiar bespectacled eyes met her gaze.

Winona was the ever constant calm in the shifting tides of the Hole, although Kawari hoped that the feline Kelvic would open up more over time, a hope that glimmered once in a while.
"Even'in Winona," Kawari said in warm tones. "Could I get some wine? Today was a good day and I'm in the mood to celebrate!"
Winona shrugged indifferently and opened her mouth to reply, when another woman approached the other end of the bar and posed a similar query to another member of staff who was tending the bar. At the server's apologetic smile, Kawari's smile drooped in disappointment, but watched as the other woman in pursuit of wine grew from frustration to anger.
Disappointment soon gave way a mix of wariness and curiosity as the tanuki observed the angry woman's reaction.
"If you can't ssserve me what I assk... then I'll take my cusss- my meezzas sssomewhere elsse!" the woman declared, as though gravely insulted.

Something about her seemed predatory, but Kawari could not help but feel somewhat of a comradery with the woman, and before she realized it, the Kelvic found herself standing next to her fellow pursuer of wine. Her dislike for confrontations made her hesitant to break into the conversation, but she could not help but voice the sudden idea that had popped into her head.

"Excuse me," she said, briefly clearing her throat.
"I... I overheard that you are looking for wine too? If you don't mind the company... we could look for some together?" she asked. Her large brown eyes regarded the woman hopefully as she waited for the woman's reaction.

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oocSorry for the wait! Argh, irl sucks sometimes...
Hopefully this is alright. ^^'
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[Allassanachassanya]

Title, etc.
"Speech"

Her increasingly irritated stance was interrupted somewhat timidly by a brown-haired lady with pretty, almond-coloured eyes. Ssanya glanced her way with surprise, having not noticed the woman nearby. Apparently she had just come in... then she actually heard what she said, and quirked a smile at the curious coincidence. By now, the bartended Ssanya had been talking to had gone off to serve elsewhere, leaving Ssanya to contemplate her new acquaintance in the relative peace of the bar.

Ssanya wasn't one to talk to just anyone. She liked to pick her associates, not necessarily carefully as she didn't mind talking to the weird and dangerous, but with some degree of appreciation before launching into conversation. That was why she regarded the young woman through shrewd eyes before answering her, her speech a little impedimented by her Dhani tongue, and her accent quite obviously different.

"You are looking for wine alsso..." She quickly ticked over what little she knew of Alvadas, where they could actually find some of their favoured beverage at this time of the day. She quickly came to the conclusion that she didn't really know anywhere else, not properly. "I admit I do not know placsse, with drink. But!" Ssanya nodded, smiled. "Iff you know of ssomeplacsse, then... letss."

It wasn't really a question as such, nor was she making any kind of move to leave the place. Quite by accident of her poor Common, Ssanya's speech was stilted and knowing how to phrase questions properly was a skill that eluded her. She placed a friendly smile upon her features, and rested her arm gently on the bar as she awaited the woman's response.

Almost as an afterthought, she suddenly started upright and exclaimed, "Am Ssanya! Your name?" Then she sunk back down into a more relaxed state, her arm once again resting on the bar and softly reaching her free hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The less poetic reason for evaluating her acquaintances before speaking to them was that she knew perfectly well how bad her Common was, and although she didn't know exactly what she was doing wrong, she could almost see her words being translated. Or at least, that was what she thought.

[Kawari Newid]

There was a pause as the other woman noticed and considered her. It seemed as though Kawari had caught her by surprise, though she had smiled at their mutual dilemma. The woman stood over a head shorter than her, with warmly toned skin and long, dark hair that flowed freely around her shoulders. As the stranger regarded her with almond-shaped brown eyes, Kawari nearly expected the woman's gaze to pierce her.

'Predator.' For a moment, the kelvic froze. Had she worn her furred form, her coat would have bristled with anxiety. As it were, she stood on her human legs and the only sign that betrayed her appeared in the form of her arms subtly turning into goose-flesh and perhaps some stiffening in her posture, instinct having spurred on a wave of wariness. However, this was a momentary state as her curiosity was abruptly captured by the woman's accent, for it was of a kind which she had never heard before.

"You are looking for wine alsso..." came the accented voice, the prolonged 's' vaguely evoking a familiar sound. '…Animal?' she wondered, as the canine had not caught a whiff of an alcoholic aroma emanating from her, while the woman spoke once more.
"I admit I do not know placsse, with drink. But! Iff you know of ssomeplacsse, then... letss."
Although the woman's phrasing made it clear that she was not native to Common alongside her curious 's', Kawari understood her question and closed her eyes as she considered her reply. It had been some time since she had last indulged in the fermented fruit drink, and it took her a moment to recall the name of the location which held the prized beverage. 'The… mmm… No, not the Rearing Stallion… that is in Syliras…'

"The Stallion's Rear!" she opened her eyes and grinned happily at the woman, who had by then relaxed both her expression and posture, which in turn lowered Kawari's wariness down a notch. Kawari jumped a bit at the woman's sudden movement and louder voice, but released the tension in her body as she listened to Ssanya's declaration of her name, alongside her question.
"My name is Kawari, but most call me Kawa," she paused.
"Ssanya… an interesting name," she said, tasting the syllables of the woman's name as she spoke them.
"Are you from Alvadas? Or somewhere else…?" the kelvic inquired, curious, and waited for Ssanya's reply.

oocAgh, yet another late reply.
Kawa: Common
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[Allassanachassanya]

Title, etc.
"Speech"
"Others"

She snorted at the name, finding it an amusing name for a place to drink, thinking that as long as the quality of their drinks weren't like horse piss then she'd be happy to give it a try. "I am from Eyktol, near to Ahnatep. It'sss the desssert, beautiful, hot. Not like here, in the north. You? From Alvadasss, or elsssewhere?" Ssanya stood up and gently tucked the stool away as she turned to properly greet the woman with a bowed head of acknowledgement.

"Would you show me where thisss... aah, Sstallion'ss Rear iss, at all? Alvadasss isss new to me, I arrive only," she counted backwards on her fingers, concentrating, "About fifteen daysss ago." If Kawari were to agree, she'd let her lead the way and then would follow beside her as the two walked through the city. Ssanya smiled as they walked, feeling an amount of encouragement for finding someone so knowledgeable, and someone who was happy to take her to a decent establishment.

It wasn't that she was some kind of addict, desperately clinging to their bottle as their life disappeared down the drain. Merely that wine always made her feel at home. It had always been something of a luxury for the nest, given whenever they had visited the nearby Ahnatep. The taste of it since had always made Ssanya feel like she could be back at the nest, and besides she had developed quite a tongue for the varying flavours of different wines. Through travel, she had discovered that not all wine was made the same. Kenashian wine was certainly different to Riverfallian wine.

With a distracted smirk, she though abstractedly that Alvad wine would probably taste nothing like what she expected, considering the rumours of the food here. Then, as she looked up from walking, the entrance to the tavern appeared and the two women stepped inside.

OOCWelp, it's a short one. Hope that's alright!

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[Kawari Newid]

She recalled having heard Mistress Miriam, the Benshira from Kal's Kiln, speak of the dessert sands and boiling sunshine in wistful tones, but some apprehension had crept into her voice, as though she had had some bad experience. The older woman did not speak of her homeland often, and it was clear that she had mixed emotions about it.
On the other hand, Ssanya's words held a fondness that poked at Kawari's interest.
"I am from Syliras," she said, which seemed the right way to answer, as it had been the place where she had lived in for the longest amount of time. "It is much warmer here and there are many more interesting things here... But I do miss Syliras sometimes," she said with a smile, mimicking Ssanya's bowed head with a bob of her own.

"I would be happy to... Or at least to try," she said with a mischievous grin. "It moves around with the rest of the city, but should Ionu be kind, we will find it sooner than later."
Having agreed to set off together on the quest for wine, Kawari waved farewell to Winona and lead the way out of the caves. Once outside, she let her senses over take her, following the warm scent of sunshine, and she even caught sight of what looked like a small stylized sun chiselled into a wall at the beginning of an alley, trusting that the city would not bar the pair in their search of wine.

During her first season in Alvadas, it had taken her more than a few tries to learn to trust that the city would lead her to her desired place, and even still she did not always get to where she wanted to go. For the most part though, she had learned through advice and through trial and error that sometimes one could track down a location by following things that one might strongly associated with it.

In the case of the Stallion's Rear, the first thing that came to mind, other than wine of course, was of the sky tiles that sat high on the ceiling, offering a view of the true sky above, despite the roof. During her first visit, the potter had sat in a corner nursing her drink and she had stared at the ceiling in wonder and awe; the clouds had glowed with the pink, orange, yellow, and purple hues of wildflowers as Syna made her decent, making way for Leth's pale rays as he rose into a richly dark blue-black sky. Curiously, after that experience, Kawari had most frequently noticed the scent of warm sun on flowers, even at night, whenever she neared the Stallions Rear.

After what seemed to be 20 chimes, the two seekers of wine rounded a corner, only to come face to face (or rather, face to door) with the narrow, dark establishment, with it's familiar loops of silvery paint.
"Here we are," Kawari breathed, her eyes lit with satisfaction and excitement. Although it did not perhaps look like much on the outside, the tanuki was curious as to how Ssanya would react to the sights within.
She nodded towards the door.
"Shall we?"

oocHope this is alright. ^^'
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[Allassanachassanya]

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Grade Rewardsss

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Ssanya

Skills

Observation: +2
Socialisation: +2
Lores

Self: Not bothered by nudity
Self: Loves wine
Socialisation: Making an introduction
The Stallion’s Rear: A place with wine
Kawari: Most call me ‘Kawa’
Wine: Evokes a sense of home
Alvadas Location: The Stallion’s Rear
Kawari: From Syliras

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Kawari

Skills

Singing: +1
Observation: +2
Socialisation: +2
Land Navigation: +1
Lores

Alvadas Location: The Wolf’s Cave
Alvadas Location: Kalea’s Kiln
Winona: Owner of the Wolf’s Cave Watering Hole
Socialisation: Starting a conversation
The Stallion’s Rear: A place with wine
Ssanya: From Eyktol, near Ahnatep, in the desert
Mistress Miriam: Benshira from Kalea’s Kiln
Alvadas: Location Changing
The Stallion’s Rear: Curious sky tiles
Notes

I really enjoyed reading through this old thread of ours. It's a shame we couldn't finish it, but perhaps one day we'll get our drink together.

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