Solo New horizons

[Cleon]

14th of Spring, 522 A.V. Evening

He found himself standing in front of a massive stone structure from which he had emerged. This dovecote was much larger than the one he had passed through on the way in, and Cleon marveled at the intricately carved sandstone structure for a moment until an older man approached him.

“First time?” The man asked genially as he halted an appropriate distance away. Cleon gave a rough nod. “It can be a bit overwhelming I hear, going through a door and coming out in a place different than the one you left.”

“You heard correctly then. I was told what to expect and how to get here, yet still I find myself lost in the fact that it actually worked.” Cleon said, marveling as he spun around in a slow circle to look out onto the square beyond. There songs and people conversing floated up to him underneath a brilliant blue sky.

“Well, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance on this lovely afternoon. My name is Paul Resan. May I ask what brings you here today?” Paul asked.

“Curiosity I suppose. I heard I could do some trade here as well.” Cleon explained.

“Of course, that is the overall purpose of the outpost. A place where anyone with access to a dovecote can come to trade and converse with peoples across Mizahar.”

“Do people from Sunberth come here?”

“Of course, I have met many from there. You have been to the place?” Paul asked curiously.

“I spent some time there. I’m in Syka now.” Cleon said, watching the man’s face carefully but it didn’t betray anything at the comment.

“Ah we’ve been getting a steady flow of people from there as well. Unfortunately, I must tell you that you cannot use the outpost as a means to travel back to Sunberth if that is your desire. The door only opens one way.” Paul counseled.

“That is fine. I have no desire to return to that place, though I was wondering if I may get word to someone that might still live there.” Cleon asked.

“Easily enough accomplished. You see this square adjacent to us with the massive fountain. There you will find a message board where travelers leave notes for one another to find. As it is situated right by the only entrance into the outpost, its is of course seen rather frequently. You could try there, or wait till you met a person from Sunberth. Your choice really.” Paul supplied readily, flashing a warm smile.

It must have been infectious or something about the mood he was in because Cleon found himself smiling too. “Thank you, that would suit my needs quite nicely.” Cleon said, starting off for the fountain when Paul walked slightly ahead of him.

“Before you go, I’d like to provide you with a map of the city. You can see here where you are right now along the northern wall, and then the square it empties out onto before merging with the Open Sky Bazaar. The square is reserved for entertainers of all sorts day and night if that is what you fancy after leaving your note. An of course the Open Sky Bazaar is the main attraction. It is larger than any market you have ever seen, I promise, and if you need someone to guide you to a particular item you seek, you need only to ask one of the Keiss. They look a lot like that guy over there.” Paul said as he handed him a piece of rolled up parchment he produced from a satchel on his hip, then turned to point at a man armed with a long curving blade. “They can guide you to anywhere you wish to go in the market, and help you find your desire rather quickly. An if you want to open up a stall yourself, they will find you a man called Nico who manages such things. The going rate is 1 gold miza per day with a ten day lease minimum. Now do you have any other questions before I leave you?”

Cleon briefly studied the map before stuffing it in his pocket and looking at the man as he started to feel slightly overwhelmed. “Yes, I mean no. Thank you for your assistance. It has been much appreciated. Paul slightly bowed his head.

“Well it has been a pleasure meeting you..”

“Cleon. The experience has been mutual.”

“Cleon, a nice name. Very well, I will no doubt be seeing you around again. Please, enjoy your afternoon in our lovely city.” Paul said politely before walking off back toward the dovecote. After seeing the man off a ways, Cleon turned around and started to head for the fountain. Kalskan fountain according to the map.

WC - 793

[Cleon]

While he hadn’t known quite what to expect coming to the fountain, he was certainly unprepared to find a rather large gorilla there. Doubly so when it talked. It appeared to be arguing with an older gentleman about the mechanism behind the fountain, although it wasn’t really arguing. It just sounded that way because of the gorilla’s deep, rumbling voice that seemed to vibrate in Cleon’s chest as he drew near. The discussion was actually a rather calm one with the gorilla and the man reclining by the fountain as they tossed about ideas as to its inner workings. On the whole, it felt to Cleon like he was waking up to a fever dream and perhaps he had. He pinched himself, blinked several times and unfortunately found himself in the very same reality.

On a lark he decided to walk up to the strange pair.

Both turned to him as he approached, the older man looking at him with a bit of confusion while the Jamoura’s expression was indecipherable. With he just stood there, staring for several moments, the older man with smile lines crinkling his features cleared his throat somewhat loudly.

“Excuse me boy, but it’s not polite to stare.”

“Oh Kuric, its quite alright. He’s probably never seen a Jamoura before.”

Cleon blinked several times, then shook his head briskly. “I’m sorry, I was uh, just wondering if either of you could write a note for me.” He stammered.

“How about a name first boy? My name is Kuric and hers is Kallama.” The older man named Kuric groused.

“My name is Cleon. I’m not so good with letters and you two stood out. Sorry if I’m wasting my time.” Cleon said a bit deflated as he started to walk away. The Jamoura, Kallama held out her hand though, which presented a massive obstruction in his path. He stopped, and turned around acutely towards Kallama.

“Hold on there what’s the rush. We haven’t said we won’t help you. You say you have trouble with letters then. That is unfortunate. Where are you from son?” Kallama asked as she scratched her chin gently.

“Syka.” Cleon said curtly, then feeling a little sore elaborated. “Originally Sunberth though.”

“That explains it.” Kuric exclaimed.

“Kuric! I’m sorry, he really means nothing by it. I only ask because I was wondering what language we should be using for this letter of yours.” Kallama continued.

“Uh. Common. Common is fine.” Cleon said as he looked at his feet briefly.

“Okay, do you have any paper?” Kallama asked.

Cleon shook his head.

“Kuric, might I borrow a piece?”

The older man rolled his eyes before digging through a small bag on his right and producing a sheaf of parchment along with a thin quill that he laid out on the ground before them. Cleon gave the materials a strange look before looking up at Kallama whom he judged to be the more friendly of the two. The Jamoura sort of frightfully grinned, baring her teeth as she gestured him forward. Hesitantly he accepted till he was kneeling before the materials.

Kuric started snapping until it got his attention. “Hold the quill like this, balanced between your thumb and forefinger across the top of your hand. No! Your dominate one.”

“Kuric!”

Cleon gritted his teeth and switched the quill to his right hand, pinching just behind the nib as Kuric was currently demonstrating with another quill. The older man started to mutter under his breath as he slid over a black jar, and removed the wax seal.

“Now dip the point, and hold it there for a few moments before bringing it over to the sheet of paper.”

“Wait, Kuric shouldn’t you demonstrate the letters he should be using, or at least give him a representation to go off of?”

“Oh petch, you’re right.” Kuric sighed as he drew out a sheet from the sheaf and hunched over to start scribbling on the paper. He worked quickly, faster than Cleon could really follow as he scrawled across the top a number of symbols that Cleon recognized to be pieces of words. It wasn’t that he was wholly illiterate. He knew that letters made words and to go with that a smattering of phrases he could interpret which had been common on signs in Sunberth. Putting words down in his own hand though was a different beast all together.

When Kuric finished what he was working on, he slid across the sheet which had written across the top in a tight, rushed script several different letters from a to z. The older man then leaned forward slightly. “So what is it you want to say then?” Kuric asked.

“I’d like to find someone from Sunberth to deliver me a message.” Cleon explained.

“Hmm.. Well you might one to phrase it like this then: Attention to anyone from Sunberth, I have a message I need delivered. Oh right, that’s the A, the t, two t’s, an-” Kuric continued walking him through the script, pointing at the letters as they came with Cleon doing his best to copy them in a large, unevenly flowing script. Sometimes the ink ran too thin and he had to retrace his steps, others it was too thick and pooled till it almost disrupted the other letters. Cleon tisked under his breath as he continued spelling out the sentence.

“I’d also like to say I’ll pay 10 gold mizas.”

“Alright, phrase it this way: 10 gold mizas for fulfillment of the contract. Half up front in exchange for collateral.”

“What’s collateral?” Cleon asked.

“Collateral is something of equal value to the payment they are receiving. In this case they would give you something worth five gold mizas to hold onto until the fulfilled their obligation at which point you would give the item back along with the rest of your stated fee. I — they give you something they can’t do without so you can make sure they will deliver your letter and return for the remainder of the fee instead of just running off with the five gold mizas.” Kuric explained when he saw he wasn’t quite following. It kind of sounded to him like he was explaining it to a toddler, but Cleon kept his trap shut as he worked through the next series of letters.

“What day do you want to meet them at?” Kuric asked once Cleon had caught up.

“Oh uh, the twenty first I suppose.” Cleon mused. He figured on the fly it would be better to give time for as many eyes as possible to see it and prepare for the meeting.

“What time?” Kuric asked patiently.

“Twelve noon.” Cleon said.

“Alright, write this down. Meet me here at twelve noon on the twenty first of Spring. Do you want to elaborate on any details about yourself?”

Cleon shook his head as he followed along with the corresponding symbols. When he was finished he set the quill down and flexed his aching fingers. They smarted something terrible but at least he had gotten this done in his own hand. Kuric picked up the piece of parchment, blew on it, then started waving it lightly in the air.

“Well its barely legible, but it’ll do I guess. Here I’ll even hang it up for you.” Kuric said, making the act of standing up seem like a momentous occasion, but Kallama made no move to help him which he found a little funny as he snickered under his breath. The old man tut tutted at something as he pinned the message to the board, then made a shooing motion with his hands.

“Okay, I think we’ve done our charity for the week. Go run along now.” Kuric said as he was helped into a seated position by the Jamoura.

“Yeah, of course” Cleon said as he got to his feet and dusted his knees off.

“Pleasure meeting you Cleon. I wish you luck on getting your message through.” Kallama said with another fierce grin.

“Thanks” Cleon said offhandedly before he starting walking across to the fountain square. There was something else that occurred to him with that piece of business settled, and that confusing interaction had awakened a thirst in himself. He decided to head straight away for the Bazaar.

WC - 1,381

[Cleon]

The Open Sky Bazaar was exactly the sort of place he had been looking for in Syka. It was the largest open air market he had ever seen before and it practically teemed with people. As he approached it was hard to get a good sense of its exact size, but he got the distinct impression that it went on in various directions for quite a long while. There were booths and stalls set up everywhere while every sort of race one could imagine commingled with one another. The smell of all of those people coming together was just slightly overpowered by the smell of the wares on display. Greased weapons, burning incense, all sorts of spices he’d neither seen nor heard of blending with one another to create a quite unique smell.

Cleon liked it. He both felt at home, and so very lost at the same time. He could see why now Paul had made the recommendation he did. He could wander these avenues for bells and bells till his legs gave out and still not find what he was looking for. Immediately, he started looking for one of the Keiss Paul had pointed out, then started walking over when he spotted one. A rather tall, tawny skinned man with broad shoulders and a wide set gait. As he so often had to do, Cleon looked up to meet the man’s gaze as he approached.

“Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you could help me find something.” Cleon asked hesitantly.

The man turned and regarded him with a friendly smile. “Of course, what do you need?”

“I uh.. Was hoping to find a pipe.” Cleon replied.

“Easily enough sorted, and fortunately I know of one such seller. You can follow me to her.” The man replied, and suddenly Cleon was following the broad shouldered guard through the thick of crowd, keeping close so as to avoid loosing him amidst all of the people milling about. They found the appropriate stall within a few chimes, at which point the guard stopped and gestured him over. Taking a step closer, he took a quick glance of the wares laid out on the table before nodding at the guard.

“Thank you for your help.”

“It was nothing. Please enjoy the rest of your day.” The man said before walking off into the crowd where he was quickly absorbed from view.

Cleon turned back around and gave the stall a more critical eye. Across the table along with several different kinds of pipes there were also leather pouches, clay bowls filled with dried leaves of various shades, and at the far end of the table what looked to be a selection of candles.

He approached what he though he needed first, which was a pipe, ignoring the more elaborate varieties in favor of something more simple. The first one he picked up had a long black stem that ended in a chalice like bowl with a knot carved in the side and pierced through to allow a flow of air through. It was made of a smooth, brown wood that lent itself to a rosy hue.

“That is nice piece you selected. Will you be needing anything to go along with it.” A soft, feminine voice asked. Cleon looked up to see an older woman with long dark curls that framed either side of her fair skinned face that had a slight shade of sunburn across it. Grinning, he nodded, and then fiddled with his belt pouch, taking out a little tin that he rolled between his fingers.

“Well, what do you have?” Cleon asked.

“All sorts, depends on what you are in the mood for?” She asked, leaning on the counter slightly with her elbows perched across.

“Hmm, kind of at cross purposes in that regard. Sometimes I’d like something I could relax with that has a pleasant taste, others I’m in the mood for something more stimulating.” Cleon said, then sat the tin on the table. “Say, I just got some of this cream today for sunburns and..” Cleon ended up gesturing awkwardly which drew out a pleasant sounding laugh from the woman as she took the tin and studied it for a moment before opening it.

“Really now? Where you from?” She asked as she scooped a little onto her finger and tested it out on the back of her hand before setting the tin back down on the table. Then she turned towards the clay bowls studying them for a moment.

“Syka recently, that’s were I got the cream anyways.”

“Oh, then that explains it. Lot of talented people over there. Oh here, I think I know just the thing, hold out that pipe.” She asked, taking a pinch of dried blue leaves, then sprinkling them into the bowl of the pipe he extended. “Alright get ready.”

Cleon brought the end of the stem to his lips as the woman took out a small piece of tinder and lit it on one of the candles she had going, then brought it over to hover just above the bowl of the pipe. He took a deep pull then, watching as the flame dipped down, blackening the leaves into a cherry glow as a ripe, fruity smell filled the air. The hot smoke he pulled in carried a wisp of the taste as he continued to inhale, slowly forcing it into his lungs before he let her take the pipe from his hands.

The back of his throat started to tickle as he grinned, and felt a burning itch fade to nothingness. As he breathed out slowly through his nose, a warm glow suffused him as he suddenly became of aware of his blinking, breathing and even the way he perspired down the slope of his back from the heat of the day. More than that, his mind felt suddenly strange and clear, clearer than it had been for a long time, though for the moment he didn’t want to think about anything, just watch the woman across from him take in a pull as she smiled around the stem of the pipe.

She blew a few little smoke rings at him at the end of her exhale then tamped the pipe out with her thumb before setting it on the table. After a long moment had passed between them, she laughed.

“So how was it?” She asked.

“Great, I think that is just what I’m looking for.” Cleon said almost like he was coming out of a fog, and held onto the edge of the table briefly for support.

“Well hold on, I’m not done just yet, but this next one you can try on your own. Its Syliran tobacco which should fulfill your other need quite well, though I wouldn’t mix it with the blue vision you just tried. If you have any problems with it, just come back and see me. I’ll start you off with a couple of ounces of each, a handful of tinder, and the pipe of course.”

The transition was almost jarring how different the flow of everything seemed now, the sedate pace gone as everything seemed to flow in real time again. Maybe he was just seeing things for what they were now that he’d managed to get out of his own head. However before he could muse any further in that regard, the lady set out his items in front of him and he had to go digging for his miza pouch.

“It’ll be five gold mizas for the pipe, and one gold miza for the tobacco. If you throw in one silver miza I’ll toss in a bundle of tinder.” She then looked down at her hand, smiled oddly then opened the tin to scoop out some cream that she smeared across the bridge of her nose. “I supoose since my hand fine this should be too. Thank you for that.”

Cleon smiled, and then slid over the mizas before scooping up his wares, putting some back in his belt pouch while the rest went into his trouser pockets.

“Thank you. Say, are you doing anything later?” He asked.

The woman gave him a warm smile as she slowly shook her head. “I’m flattered really, but no, I’m not interested.”

He accepted that even if it stung a little, nodding slightly towards her before he turned to depart into the crowd, hoping to lose himself in the churn while he thought about what he was going to do. On his way out of the market, he stopped by a stall manned by a couple of fairly large Akalak who had a rack behind them with bottles of wine on display. Cleon hesitated just outside of the stall, bit the side of his lip, and then leaned against the table.

"How much?" He asked.

"Depends on what you are looking for, but I can guarantee you, you'll not beat our prices nor the taste of our bottled wine." The Akalak on the left said. His hair was braided close to the scalp with a top knot that draped down his neck to just behind his shoulders. Like most Akalak Cleon had ever encountered, this one was wearing armor, with his weapons prominently displayed, his being a small dagger, and a broad, long sword he wore strapped naked across his back.

"Well, you got any that are popular with women?" Cleon asked hesitantly.

"Of course." The Akalak said with a smile, turning around before sliding out a dark-colored blue bottle that he set out onto the counter. "Bluefvein gold, for you twenty gold mizas should do it."

Cleon gritted his teeth, considered it for a moment then set out the mizas because he didn't really want to ask after another bottle. Honestly, he just wanted to get out of this market at this point, and smoke in a corner while he tried to figure the rest of his evening out. The Akalaks accepted his payment and he stowed the bottle away before continuing on till he finally exited the market and came back out into the fountain square. Finally, it felt like he could relax and take stock of where he was on the map.

ooc- 5 gm pipe
- 1 sm tinder (10)
- 1 gm Blue vision 2 oz, Syliran tobacco 2 oz
- 20 gm Bluevien gold



WC - 1,705