Through the Streets of the Bazaar

[Lasair Anubail]

((Closed, no bazaar mod needed, thank you))


Everything looked so pretty. There were shining swords reflecting the bright light of the high noon sun, the glint of the armour laying out on the red cloth tables and the rows and rows of shimmering jewellery reflecting facets of light off gently carved faces of stones more colours than she could hope to ever name. It was so very different from the Cearnaigh Criostal back home, with its gentle pace and homey little shops selling custom made things for interesting prices and armour and swords that were both ornate and effective. This place, this Bazaar in the streets of Radasanth was far busier with a pace that only humans it seemed could keep up with. Their bodies moved to and fro, in large crowds that seemed to squish the small Fae between their significantly larger frames. Maybe one of the next things she invented should be a potion to make her grow a few more inches, then the merchants in their pretty little wooden and trembling stalls would actually glance her way instead of turning to the women with their fluffy and cumbersome looking dresses.

Now, don’t get Lasair wrong, she thought the dresses were very pretty. They had lovely colours and many layers that combined together to make them rather beautiful. Not to mention tight little tops that seemed to accentuate certain assets human women had in greater abundance than Lasair ever would. But they looked like they’d be hard to breathe in let alone move. She couldn’t imagine ever having to go on an adventure in one of those things. Not only would it get ruined but if she ever had to run away from something she’d never make it very far before the dress got snagged on something or whatever she was running from caught up enough to get her and possibly eat her. She hated it when things tried to eat her. Not only was there barely enough meat on her bones for her but it was just plain rude.

So Lasair stuck to simple dresses that let her breathe and allowed her to move however she liked. Today, she was wearing a long green one that was tight around her torso, with long, sleeves and a rather open lace-up back allowing her wings free movement. They were pressed up tight against her tanned skin at the moment though, looking like nothing more than a shimmering accessory to the dress she was wearing.

As she moved through the crowded street, her bare feet slid against the smooth stones that made up the cobbled ground, worn by all the feet that had walked across it before. And every now and again, the side of her skirt shifted apart and allowed the briefest glimpse at her leg all the way up to her thigh. She didn’t stop at the shops with their weapons and their jewellery though. She was looking for someone in particular. He was supposed to be a mean looking merchant with long blonde hair and an eye patch covering one of his eyes. He sounded more interesting than mean to her and his name was Cy—Cer—er—Serious? Something rather weird like that. His name didn’t matter, finding him did for she had heard rumours that he dealt in things that most merchants didn’t and that he had unique and rare items at his shop and she wanted some of them!

Though there was a chance the person who had told her these things was either lying or exaggerating, Lasair’s mind did not pick up on that. In her head, she pretty much believed almost anything someone told her, unless it directly contradicted something she already knew and since she knew nothing about this strange blonde merchant, than that man last night was telling the truth. Besides, what did she have to lose if she couldn’t find him? Just a day of searching and it would be worth it if she could get her hands on something unique to synthesize with. Then she could create something really powerful, or maybe upgrade her Tristram or Godhand plushie.

Approaching a rather extravagantly dressed man with coloured robes and long, greying hair, the small Fae called out to him. “Excuse me, Mr. Human!”

His much taller frame turned to her and sharp, blue eyes looked down and into her soft, golden ones.

“I’m trying to find a blonde merchant with an eye patch, I believe his name is Cy or Cer or something.” She said as she ran the tips of her fingers across her bottom lip, trying to remember the man she had been given last night. Sadly, it seemed to be hiding somewhere within the many darkened corridors of her mind and her gentle coaxing was not bringing it out. Perhaps she should try being more forceful and grab a stick to beat at it.

She was just beginning to imagine beating her brain with a stick when the look the man was giving her made her pause. He was looking at her like she was insane. She’d seen it before, quite a few humans had given it to her, but she didn’t really mind. They just didn’t understand her.

“’is name i’ Kai’rail and ‘e shop’s so’re ‘ere.” The man finally answered a bit hesitantly. Not that it helped her very much.

Oh, boy did he ever have an accent coming out of his mouth. Watching the movement of his lips revealed yellow teeth and missing ones that left gaping holes. The tiny Fae tried her to best to understand exactly what he was talking about, but it became rather apparent to the merchant that she didn’t understand him when she made no move to step away from his stall. With a sigh, he extended his hand towards a shop in particular that appeared to not be very different from all the other ones lining the street at all.

“Thanks!”

Her happy and cheerful demeanour renewed with the prospect of information, Lasair practically skipped away from the merchant and towards the shop he had pointed to. It seemed simple enough, wood and stone in construction and with a large window that was reflecting the light of the sun and not allowing her to see inside. When she approached the wooden door, wrapped her fingers around the handle and gave it a quick tug she was more than surprised to find the door did not cooperate with her command. Blinking, the Fae pulled again only to receive the same result. Having run into a similar problem once and remembering how she had solved it then, Lasair pushed on the door instead of pulling but still it would not move. Thoroughly puzzled now over the strange eccentricities that humans had with doors and making them hard to open, the Fae took a few steps back and surveyed the shop. Then her eyes landed on a small sigh in the window, the pretty little words on it spelling out the reason the door wouldn’t move when she clearly wanted it to.

Sorry...we are CLOSED

Poopies. Now that she finally found the man’s store he wasn’t around. Maybe he had gone out for lunch and if she waited an hour or two he would return shortly. Or perhaps this was his day off. Ohh, should she wait or should she come back tomorrow? Running her thin fingers through the tendrils of her thick, blood red hair, Lasair let out a small sigh and began walking once more. She’d wait a few hours to see if he came back or not; and if he didn’t she would just have to come back tomorrow. Until then, she just needed to find something interesting to do to keep from getting bored. Exploring seemed like the best thing, after all, she had never been to the Bazaar before. Maybe there were other stores she could find some exotic things in, like from Fallien oh, or maybe from Alerar!

[A Nony Mouse]

It had only been a few days since Travis’ last visit to the bazaar, but he was still amazed at the sight of it. The street moved and churned like a living thing as people jostled about to get to their destinations. The bazaar was a melting pot; criminals, lords, merchants, beggars, travelers, and clerics all mingled here. Travis felt as if he could too easily get swept up in it all and carried away from his goal. So he renewed his focus: Cyril’s Shop. They had struck a bargain a few days prior and Travis wanted to make another down-payment on his Eoch’air. He felt naked without a pair of bracers on his forearms and hoped that he would have enough gold for the new ones soon. Until then, he would just have to keep searching for jobs to earn some extra money.

So lost in thought about his new equipment, he had stopped paying attention to where he was going. He snapped out of his daydream as he bumped into a black-clad man walking the opposite way. “Watch where you’re going, peasant,” he hissed in a barely audible whisper before slinking off through the crowds.

Wonder what his problem was, Travis pondered before turning and continuing toward Cyril’s Shop. Although, the bazaar was always filled with all manner of interesting characters, so Travis didn’t even bother to give it a second thought. He kept right on walking, thinking absently of his next adventure as he weaved between the other shoppers.

Cyril’s Shop was an unassuming building; it welcomed those who already knew where it was, but those browsing the bazaar usually passed it right by. Again lost in a daydream, Travis walked past and only realized it when he saw the crowds thinning near the end of the bazaar. I really need to pay closer attention to what I’m doing, he reprimanded himself. Turning about and starting back toward his destination, he focused on the task at hand. As he neared the shop once again, he saw a small fairy-like creature pulling at the door handle. Despite the fact that the door remained quite firmly shut, the fairygirl kept at it. What is she doing?

“Excuse me miss,” he greeted her as she began walking away. “Is Cyril not in?”

[Taskmienster]

Reality is a subjective view based on what little knowledge people comprehend. To those of Althanas their world of swords, bows, and dragons was reality. Magic was real. However, to the minds of those that knew it was little more than an elaborate virtual reality game Althanas was fun, challenging, and presented something to do with spare time. For Collin McFerrin it was an impassable opportunity to explore, hack into the server, and toy with the coding of the very reality everyone so easily accepted. He was a computer programmer for the educationally inclined company of GramVR, a budding genius that could piece together coding and create wonderful worlds for young and old alike to learn in. He had a penchant for the gaming society and a lust for misadventures and troublemaking.

His talents were taken into account by his employers. Collin had a bad habit of toying with virtual reality gaming worlds while at work, using their time and their VR pods to tap into gaming. It was noticed and watched carefully over time, ideas budding in the minds of the owner and managerial staff. They had approached him with an offer to do what he did best, hack into other peoples programming and toy with the system and coding involved. His answer was a firm yes, and he was given full reign over the pods and their use. The pay raise and accompanying step up the corporate ladder was given to him for his nearly illegal activities… stealing pivotal information about the dynamics of the World of Althanas.

His target, Althanas, was a gaming society controlled by rival’s TechFront.

The character played by Collin, Ethan “Lars” Calhoun stepped out of one of the many stores that lined the Bazaar District of Radasanth. He had been well met by many smiling merchants, hoping to lure out the precious coin from the unwary and unusually dressed Lars. The prices named were ridiculously emphasized, he knew by eye that half the shit they were selling was second rate at best. He had an ‘eye for greed’ some would say, but being a scavenger on multiple other sites he had come to pick up the mediocre from the masterful and it had taken quite some time and wandering to find a suitable place of business. In the end he had purchased four more daggers for the contraption up either sleeve, leaving him satisfied and a little bored.

“What to do… what to do?” The question hung in the air, waiting for something to present itself or someone to approach him. Althanas was a very different gaming community. In Grimm, the post-apocalyptic future game he had last played, the world had offered much to do for those interested in seeking it out for themselves. The low tech, wide ranging world of Althanas had adventures, but he found they were normally started out of happenstance more than anything concrete. It was a matter of waiting for something to jump out and surprise him, and then a matter of deciding to tag along or let it the opportunity pass by.

The rhetorical question went unanswered, not even a single eye turned to him to suggest something or to ask for help. He garnered plenty of strange looks from the peasantry of Radasanth. His short leather jacket was lined with white fur, pockets lying across the front and back. The jacket coupled with his loose girl jeans and silver belt buckle were by far out of place, leaving him like a sore thumb against the monotonous background of brown and black clad people. He smiled and nodded to those that gave him curious glances, let them think what they would, he could care less.

With sure hands he tucked the end of his cigarette between his thin, chapped lips. In his other hand he twirled his silver lighter end over end. A flick of his fingers and the fire was put to tip, his heavy inhale sparking and growing the glowing ember in seconds. His lungs were filled with the harsh smoke; he held it for a second and let it all out slowly. The acrid taste put him at ease. The pungent smoke burned his eyes slightly but he had grown accustomed to it, the man behind the character having smoked for years. The nicotine always caused a slight buzz in the ideological reality of Althanas, leaving the lightheaded hacker with a broad smile on his face.



((Suppose I can just run into you two or something))

[Lasair Anubail]

She had been rather lost in thought, but then again find a time when Lasair wasn’t exactly lost in thought and she’d give you a plushie. So as her mind wandered over a list of ingredients she’d probably never find and an item she might not have the time to make, the small Fae almost missed the human that had been calling out to her. It happened, she’d been known to walk right passed her friends before and not even realise they were standing a few inches away from him. She was lucky enough she didn’t walk into the man. Or she supposed he was lucky enough she didn’t walk into her...perhaps, maybe? Oh, it’s didn’t really matter!

Blinking as if coming out of a dream, Lasair paused and looked up at the man. He was quite handsome in a human kind of way. He had lovely red hair too, kind of like hers only it wasn’t as brightly coloured. Probably a good thing considering hers was as bright as blood and that would just look odd on a man. Not to mention the streaks of gold that occasionally found a way to slip in through the shades of red and make her hair shimmer in the bright light of the sun.

“Oh, umm...sadly he appears to be out somewhere.” She said, clearly disappointed by the fact that Cyril was not at home. “But I’m hoping he comes back soon so I can take a look in his shop! I hear he’s got lots of interesting things in there that other merchants don’t carry and I want to check them out.”

Suddenly, the small form of the Fae perked up as if she had just thought of the best idea in the world. Her entire face brightened up as a large smile spread across her lips and made her golden eyes practically dance with excitement. Even the wings flat upon her back perked up and shimmered in the light of the day, reflecting the sun off their surface in a rainbow of colour.

“I’ve got an idea!” Lasair reached and laid her small hand on the arm of the young human, “Why don’t we go searching for Cyril! I’m sure he’s got to be nearby somewhere and then we can both get him to open his shop back up for us.”

With a bit of a tug, she began to try and pull the human after her. Of course, she wasn’t very strong and her grip wasn’t exactly like steel, so if he didn’t want to go with her, he wasn’t going any place at all. Not unless she got Godhand to do it, but she didn’t really feel like disturbing her plushies at the moment. They were sleeping and all three of them deserved it. Plus, it was just rude to force someone to come along with her. If he wanted to, he could, if not, well then she would just have to find Cyril on her own. The Bazaar wasn’t too big after all...she hoped, so she shouldn’t get lost. But if she did get lost, she always considered that half the adventure! Just as long as nothing tried to eat her. It was never very much fun anymore when things tried to eat her, which surprisingly happened a lot to the Fae. She was going to have to come up with some anti-cannibal perfume or something along those lines. Anything that would keep monsters from trying to eat her was a bonus in her mind.

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis chuckled to himself as the fairy looked up with confused eyes. He knew that look; she had been lost in her own world. He had shaken her out of her reverie though, and it took her only a moment to answer him. After telling him that Cyril was nowhere to be found, she perked up with an idea.

“Why don’t we go searching for Cyril!” she practically squeaked with excitement. Wings aflutter, she hopped up and down before laying a hand on his arm. Then she began tugging and, with a sigh, Travis followed behind her. He didn’t know much about the fae, but he had heard stories about their strange tendencies. Traveling with one should be interesting, he thought as he allowed himself to be pulled along.

“Sounds like a good idea,” he told her as they made their way through the crowds of shoppers. “My name is Travis, by the way. What’s your name?”

[Taskmienster]

The nicotine could only occupy the hacker’s interest for so long. It was a bad habit, both in game and in real life, but one that just would not be stopped. Lars inhaled smoke and opened his mouth, popping out small smoke rings in the still air of the Bazaar. People looked at him funny as always, but he didn’t mind in the least. A small child with her mom holding her hand tightly turned and tugged against her restraint. She pointed and laughed. “You think that’s fun, watch this.” Lars said with a smile.

He took a quick drag, opened his mouth in an awkward O shape and puffed carefully. Instead of a solid smoke ring it danced and shifted in the air. The top and bottom of the ring hit each other, forcing it into a different shape. A heart appeared in the air, much to the delight of the small child. Her mom smiled too, surprisingly, leaving the hacker with a smile on his face as well. At least something he did was well met by the Radasanthian people. “Do it again! Do it again!” The girl laughed, and clapped with her hand freed.

“First, I must know your name, I can’t very well entertain you if I don’t know who you are… right?” Lars took a tug and puffed out smoke rings again, shooting a large one and putting two more of smaller sizes between it. The air was momentarily filled with a bull’s eye before a passing cart shifted the current and dispersed it. The girl frowned when it left. Her mom stepped up and smiled though, happy to see her daughter laughing again.

“I’m Rose, this is my mommy.” Her mom reached out with a dirty hand, which Ethan took and shook lightly. “You have a way with kids, don’t you? My names Penelope Heart, it’s good to meet you. I’m sorry if I seemed overly cautious earlier, just… you know… with all the trouble in Corone it seems that all that’s come of it so far are mercenaries. They aren’t always the nicest of people either.”

Ethan laughed and shook her hand softly. It was good to have his image not overshadowing his personality for once. “I’m Ethan Calhoun; most just call me Lars though.” He took a puff of smoke and blew out another wavering ring. The resulting heart hovered in front of Rose and she laughed as she stuck her hand through it like a bracelet. “I understand your problems completely, but no worries here. I love kids, and your daughter as a beautiful name.”

The little girl twisted one foot on the cobblestone road. She blushed a little and giggled. “Thank you Lars, you’re a sweet kid.” If only she knew, the hacker thought. He had forced his way into Althanas against the will of the Administration or the server itself. He had come to steal the technology, take what he could get and create his own world some day. In the past his adventures had put him at odds with the personality that he displayed, sometimes leaving him to ignore the weak in favor of helping himself. There had even been times he had let helpless children die to remain out of the line of fire. But none of that mattered, because none of it was known. “Are you here for the civil war? Another mercenary to choose a side and fight some bloody battle? Or are you just traveling? You don’t have the appearance of the heavy armed mercs that troll the streets…”

“Just traveling for now, looking for something worthwhile to buy, I suppose you could say. Haven’t found much yet, but it’s worth the trouble of walking around and getting all these funny looks.” He played with the lip ring in the middle of his bottom lip, his tongue moving it back and forth. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know of a shop around here that has a good rep backing it? I can’t seem to find anything more than inflated prices for bullsh… ugly junk.”

“You could try Cyril’s place, just down the street a ways. He’s known for having unique weapons to buy, and pretty much anything else you could look for here.” With a smile and a passing smoke heart the hacker began walking towards where the shop would be. Penelope waved to him, and he waved back with a smile. If the Cyril guy had all sorts of stuff to buy he was definitely the one to check out. Lars finished off his cigarette and flicked it into a gutter as he walked. Before he could reach into his pocket to retrieve another one and light it up he saw something in the distance that made his head cock and a grin find his face.

The short, red haired Irishman Travis was being pulled by a small creature with thin wings. He knew Travis from his travels on Scara Brae, had done a lot of little adventures with him. It was comforting to see a familiar face, even if only in passing. However, the precious oversized fairy that was tugging at his wrist made him smile. What had gotten him into that kind of predicament? Lars figured there was a funny story behind the scene, which allotted multiple eyes to drift towards him and the small framed woman.

“Hey hey,” Ethan called out with a wave. “Travis, what’s up? How’s everything going?”

[Lasair Anubail]

He went along with her! Oh, she was so happy to have someone to travel with her instead of having to search out Cyril all on her own. They could have so many fun adventures searching for neat little things hidden around the Bazaar. Oh, maybe the Bazaar would get attacked by a group of renegade soldiers or bandits and they could defend the merchants and their stores, pushing back numerous attacks and saving people and defending their honour! Or...whatever it was that heroes did in all those stories she heard in the taverns back home and here as well. Apparently, they really liked killing two-headed dragons here in Corone compared to back home, where dragons were respected and raised and well, allowed to live. But there were the wyrms and wyrven and they were not very friendly at all.

As her mind continued to wander on to battles against five headed lions and some weird thing that looked like a cross between a bear, a wolf and...was that a donkey? Lasair finally realized that the young human had given her his name and then asked her for her own. Now that was just plain rude of her not to answer.

“Oh! My name is Lasair Anubail.” She said with a great big smile to the tall human. “But you can just call me Lasair; it’s a pleasure to meet you, Travis.”

Instead of continuing to pull him along, the small Fae looped her arm around his so that they could walk side by side. They didn’t really get very far though before another human approached the two of them. He was like the opposite of Travis. He was the same height, but his hair was dark and his eyes were different, not to mention his clothes were very funky looking. Not giving Travis the time to answer his question, Lasair pulled away from him and approached the man, who was equally moving towards their position.

“Hiya!” She always loved meeting new people, they could be so interesting.

Closer to him, she noticed the strangest thing though; he had a piece of metal sticking out of his bottom lip. Oh, it had probably hurt to get that put in there and on top of that, why would he even do it? It did not appear to have any kind of function, possibly just as much a function as piercing her ears had, which wasn’t very much other than to stick pretty little things in it occasionally when she wanted to look beautiful. He clearly seemed to know Travis though, her new acquaintance. Maybe it served a purpose when he kissed someone; after all, it was on his mouth. Or perhaps it wasn’t even real. That’s right; it could just be some kind of decoration.

“Wow, is that real?”

Stopping only when she was standing right before him, the small Fae reached up with her little hand to try and touch the small loop of metal.

[A Nony Mouse]

Travis was pleased to see a familiar face in the bazaar. He had first met Lars when they worked together to uncover an illegal logging operation is the Brokenthorn Forest. The strange man had grown on Travis and the two had become fairly good friends. Though recent quests had kept the two occupied on opposite ends of Althanas, it was good to see his companion again.

Lars walked confidently through the crowds, not caring that people did double-takes as he passed. Indeed his attire was a little… unusual. The fur-lined coat and tight pants were very much Lars’ own style. Travis didn’t mind, Lars had proved a loyal friend and capable fighter.

As the small fae woman approached Lars, Travis broke into a smile and greeted his friend. “Lars! Nice to see you again. What brings you here?” He was eager to hear about the man’s adventures across Althanas since they had last seen one another, but he saw that the man was staring at the fae as she reached for the metal stud in his lower lip. “Lars,” he introduced, “this is Lasair; Lasair, Lars.” He couldn’t tell if the two heard because they seemed otherwise engaged in an awkward stand-off.

Lasair seemed to be struggling not to yank on the metal stud, but appeared to be losing the internal battle. Her hand rose to Lars’ chin and slowly got closer to the odd adornment. Travis sensed his friend’s discomfort, but was reluctant to intervene. It would be far more interesting to see how the man dealt with the curious fae.

Bazaar-goers stared at the odd trio as they walked by on their ways to the various shops living the street. Travis stood uncomfortably by as his two companions faced-off.

[Taskmienster]

“That it is… Lasair, right? I overheard you say that.” Lars said with a chuckle as he tongued the inside of his lip ring and made it spin a couple times. That would undoubtedly interest her. As it spun he laughed again, coughing a little. The small hands of the little fae reached up to touch the metal ring. Normally, Collin on earth wouldn’t have allowed it. Someone grabbing that and tugging it even gently by accident hurt like a bitch. But on the server he didn’t know what would happen, so he leaned towards her a little and let her feel it. “Pretty kick ass, huh?”

Lars stood up erect again, slouching just a bit as he always did. He shook the hand of Travis and smiled. “Yeah, I’m always around it seems… hahaha.” He shrugged and scratched at the back of his head before retrieving another cig from his pack. The unlit tip went into his mouth, and he took a second to look at the fire haired fae. Would she care? She looked like a kid, and he had a predisposed disposition not to smoke around kids… “Whatev.” He said with a shrug and lit the cigarette before continuing.

“Yeah man, I’m just chillin’. Nothing really to it, was told to find some guy ‘Cyrus’, ‘Serious’, don’t remember his name but his shops around here somewhere. I was tired of fuckin’ hawkers trying to short change me or give me some bull about their prices. Half the shite around here’s not worth what’s asked.” He inhaled deeply and let the nicotine calm him before exhaling the smoke small smoke rings. “Some nice woman directed me this way though, so I followed on a whim to see what would come of it.”

He inhaled a quick pull and spit out a smoke heart that drifted towards the little fae’s face. If she was as outgoing and hyper as he assumed she’d love that shit. Another one quickly followed, and a third to make a bulls eye of hearts. He smirked when a little human girl giggled as he mom near literally dragged her by the odd group. Oh well, he thought, no worries.

“So yeah, you got any idea where that shop is? If not I’ll probably chill with you two if you’re cool with that. Not sure where Lassie here was headed off to with your arm, but you seemed to be in a big hurry, so if not it’s straight.”

[Lasair Anubail]

It really was real! She could feel it, the little piece of metal had been pushed through the skin directly under his lip and he could move it too. Oh, that was just so cool, she wanted one too! But maybe it would hurt too much, she didn’t like pain. Pain was not fun, so perhaps she should just stick with playing with his instead of just getting one herself. Unless she could synthesize one that wouldn’t be entirely real and would just sit on the skin instead of pierce through it. But she didn’t see the point in it other than looking pretty.

Lasair was about to ask him about the functionality of such a thing, when he removed something from his pocket and began smoking it. It appeared to be something similar to the pipes she saw a few humans and Draconians use, though in a different form. That drew her attention away enough for her to forget about her question, for the moment anyway. With a tilt of her head, Lasair watched the red end grow increasingly brighter before it released it from his lips and then blew out a few little smoke rings into the air. They floated before him, dancing in the still air before they began to slowly dissipate. Lasair was wide eyed and absolutely fascinated by it though, her golden gaze focused on them as they slowly disappeared into nothing. They had looked so pretty, like little clouds.

Just as they went away, Lars took another inhale from the stick thingy and then blew out a heart, which began moving towards her. Her entire face broke into a look of fascination and a huge smile, one that only got bigger when he blew the other heart and then pierced them with an arrow.

Reaching out, Lasair tried to grasp at the wispy objects, but her fingers passed right through them, destroying them in the process. It made her sad and the smile on her face immediately fell. In fact, her whole demeanour fell, her shoulders slumping slightly. His words drew her out of it though, most of what he’d said before having been lost to her as she was too busy paying attention to his smoke rings.

“Oh, I was dragging him off to find, Cyril...” She said as her eyes remained riveted to that white stick still between his lips. “He’s not in his shop right now, so we decided to go hunt him down. You’re more than welcome to join us though.” The smile was easily placed on her face once more, tugging at the corner of her lips and brightening up her disposition.

Reaching out, Lasair grabbed onto Lars arm and began leading him off much like she had when she first met Travis. “Oh, Travis, come on! Don’t want to be left behind, now do you?” She called out to Travis as she continued to pull Lars forward, even though he wasn’t really resisting enough for her to have to pull him. In fact, he didn’t seem to mind too much at the treatment, at least he wasn’t protesting. Not yet anyway.

Quickly dragging the two men through the main street, Lasair began heading in some direction. She didn’t really know where she was going; after all, it all looked the same. With the cute little stores and their inviting windows, they even had bakeries and shops with pretty looking things to eat that she wanted to run into but decided against it. Of course, that little question she’d wanted to ask Lars quickly came back to the forefront of her mind though.

“I wanted to ask you, Lars... umm...” She reached up and placed her index finger on her lips as she thought about how to word it. “Is there a point to the metal on your lip? I mean, from its placement I thought it was good for kissing...”

[A Nony Mouse]

The fae woman began dragging them through the bazaar again, her interest in finding Cyril having been renewed. Lars seemed happy enough to follow the odd pair and so the fairy had let him join the party. Now she led the two friends, running down streets and turning at random. She was a hard one to follow.

“Where the fuck did you find her?” Lars whispered to his red-haired companion. “I can’t see you chillin’ with fairy types like her…” He pulled out another cigarette as they tried to keep Lasair in their sights.

Chillin’? Travis wondered what he meant by that, but then just chuckled and began relating the brief story, “I just wanted to find Cyril and make a down payment on some equipment. I ask her and then the next thing I know, she’s dragging me down the street.” The two enjoyed a laugh before nearly plowing over the diminutive fae.

The section of the bazaar they were about to enter was much less crowded than the main streets. The shops still looked respectable though, so Travis wasn’t worried. He doubted that the carefree fae would take them into the seedier areas. She slowed her pace as they walked down the street, apparently content for the moment to be walking instead of sprinting. Travis took the time to scan the shops as they passed by. Migelo’s Medicines, The Eye of the Needle, Quick’s Fix, he read the signs, trying to guess what would be displayed in the windows.

“So,” he turned to Lasair, hoping she knew more about the bazaar than he did, “why don’t many people come to these shops?”

[Taskmienster]

The oversize fairy was jovial, upbeat, and somewhat hyper. A good deal of Ritalin would set her straight, and Lars wished he could somehow make that appear in one of his pockets for her… hell, if he could make that appear he would be selling it in a heartbeat. Too bad he couldn’t, because within moments Lasair was tugging at his sleeve and talking a mile a minute. Cyril was out, she was going to find him, Travis was somehow dragged into it, and it was the beginning of a fun little side quest as Lars was quickly figuring out. Althanas had a weird way to it, when something arose it was either a new quest or adventure, or something to be part of another chance encounter. The fact that he had run into Travis at all in the middle of the biggest Bazaar and town in all of Corone was in itself a clear connection by the gaming world.

If she had not been holding the end of his leather jacket Lars would have undoubtedly lost her already. The people that milled through the streets were his height, or round about, and she was almost a foot shorter. It just reminded him of trying to follow a running asian through the streets of the Big Apple, nearly impossible with all the people. Granted, he stuck out like a sore thumb. People moved out of his way, after being nearly run into by the small fae, and gave him curious glances as he passed. He wanted to just ask why they thought it wasn’t rude to stare, but hell… he had made his own appearance and knew that it was something completely different.

“Umm, actually yeah,” he said with a grin as he looked at Lasair. Every girlfriend that Collin, the real person playing the game, had had loved the lip rings. It was half the reason he had gotten them in the first place. Unfortunately, life makes one grow up eventually and work is hard to find with any facial piercings. Social stigma towards any piercings and tattoos always hit a bad nerve with the hacker, it felt like little more than bigotry and discrimination. It was good to know that people on Althanas weren’t all like that. “Would you like to try? It’s free of charge, including commitment.”

The man laughed as he leaned down and kissed the little fae on the lips. Sweet, soft touch of the kiss was beyond friendly, but not exactly intimate either. He stood up with a smile and turned the metal piercing side to side with his tongue. “Whatcha think? Feels good or bad? Most girls like it, not sure why…”

Travis voiced a question which made the hacker turn and look around. It was true, the crowded streets of the Bazaar had turned and twisted so much he had no clue where he was. Lightly used paths and underused streets had spread away from the main merchant district like tributaries from a river, leaving the companions past the upstream battle and into still waters. Very few people walked around where they had momentarily started and the reason as unknown to Lars as well. The shops were simple, higher class than the hawkers, but not quite a high class merchant establishment either.

[Lasair Anubail]

She hadn’t actually expected him to kiss her after she’d posed such a question. Not that she entirely minded, well maybe she should because he was a stranger and she shouldn’t let strangers do that to her. But then again they already knew each other’s names, so they weren’t strangers anymore now were they? And he was coming with her on this little adventure, which meant that he was a friend and a companion. Nope, he was no longer a stranger. That being said, it was still a little more surprising when he actually leaned down and kissed her, so much so that for a brief second her mind faltered and she didn’t know what to do. In the end she decided to kiss him back for as short as it actually was, somewhere above being a friendly little kiss on the lips but nothing like the passionate and intimated kisses she had shared with Godhand and her Draconian lovers. Honestly, that man kissed her like he couldn’t live without her sometimes.

“Umm, well...it certainly feels different.”

The small Fae wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good thing or not, but it was definitely not bad. It was just different. That was the best word she could find to describe it.

“I’d have to do it more in order to make up my mind.” She said to him with a large smile as the wings on her back perked and shimmered slightly. The statement was made out of complete innocence, not entirely an invitation for him to try again and yet leaving it open for him to do such a thing should he chose to. Lasair just had this bad habit of saying things like that without entirely understanding the implications of them, mostly because she just said exactly what was going on in her mind.

Like a little light bulb clicking on inside of her head, Lasair noticed that the roar of the crowd had ceased to exist, leaving the three of them in a relatively calm silence where they could still hear the far off buzz of the main streets. Where they were, she didn’t know. She’d just been walking and hoping that it brought her somewhere interesting. All it had done though was take them to a very quiet place where the shops seemed frequented by no one and the windows were not so inviting anymore, even though they looked the same.

“Oh, I’m not sure.” Lasair said to Travis as she tapped her lips with her index finger, trying to think. “This is the first time I’ve ever been to The Bazaar, since I own my own shop I usually have no need to visit others...” but now it seemed she had gotten them good and lost within some back alley area and the worst part was she hadn’t been paying attention to where she’d been walking. Which meant one thing; they couldn’t go back the way they came. Nope, they were going to have to keep moving forward until they found the person they were looking for! Or someone told them how to get back to the main street...whichever came first.

“I suppose I have gotten us lost...” She said a bit thoughtfully. “But that’s okay, because getting lost is half the adventure! Onward mighty warriors, our destiny awaits!”

The small Fae giggled as she finally let go of Lars jacket and ran ahead of her two companions. She didn’t run very fast, mostly because she didn’t want to lose them. Her bare feet slapped against the rough stone of the street, barely even noticing the feeling of it being so used to walking around without shoes on. She liked to be able to feel things as she walked instead of just the bottom of some boot or shoe. Though she did have to admit that there were times when wearing things on her feet was appropriate. Right now just wasn’t one of them in her mind.

At the first side street, Lasair turned right and continued down. She passed grey and boring looking brick stores with dark windows and no smoke rising from seemingly cold chimneys. Perhaps this was an abandoned part of The Bazaar. As she turned left and then two more rights, the small Fae eventually noticed that the shops were no longer shops. She slowed a little here, her running feet bringing her to a walking pace as her golden eyes examined the area she had found her in. The streets were not so narrow anymore and the stone was a bit rougher on her feet. Not to mention the stores well, they were massive buildings with broken windows and wide open doors leading into darkness. Were they storage buildings? She knew the Cearnaigh Criostal had storage buildings where shops could put extra bits of their wares that they didn’t need at the time. Maybe this was it, though it looked rather run down to her, especially with all the broken stuff just kind of lying around in the street. She had to keep avoiding it.

Hearing the sound of voices, the small Fae started heading towards it, hoping that maybe it was a few merchants just checking on some things. They would be able to tell her about Cyril or how she could get back to the main streets. Entering one of the large storage houses, Lasair found it oddly enough empty. It was just a big space filled with pillars and dust. But from within here the sound of voices was louder so she continued to walk until she saw a group of people in the distance. They didn’t exactly look like merchants to her, in fact a few of them looked like warriors and from here she couldn’t tell what they were talking about.

Sneaking a bit closer to them, Lasair hid behind the only thing in the large building, a bunch of crates. They weren’t covered in the dust and debris that the floor was; which meant that they were new and perhaps the people had brought them here. But if they were discussing business, why were they doing it all the way back here? As she leaned against some of the crates, her arm hit a small wooden box, knocking it over. Squeaking slightly, the small Fae reached out and grabbed it before it could hit the ground and make any noise. Hiding behind the crates in case they heard her, she gently opened the box and removed a dark red cloth, revealing a perfectly clear crystal sphere. It was the kind that her sister would love to have and the kind that nature rarely if ever made. Not to mention it was just really pretty...



((If I moved too fast let me know and I'll edit it.))

[A Nony Mouse]

I’m lost in the outskirts of the bazaar, Travis realized. Even though the little fae had slowed her pace when they reached this section of the city, she had turned so often that the redhead had not been able to keep up. Scouring the nearby streets, he found no sign of the diminutive woman.

“Figures,” he muttered to himself. “Lost my guide.” Turning about to see if his friend was having better luck finding the fairy, he saw that Lars was peering into the open door of a large warehouse intently. “Do you see her?” he asked his companion. The man motioned for Travis to be quiet and join him. The adventurer shook his head as he made his way across the street, was this going to be another adventure for the pair?

The inside of the building was bare and Travis couldn’t see very far inside. Shadows and pillars obscured the view of the entire thing and so he silently crept inside to figure out what was going on. Voices drifted across the room toward him and he saw Lars tense. Straining to make out the words, he only caught a few here and there. Apparently his friend was having a better time hearing because the man’s face changed from curiosity to determination. Knowing he couldn’t speak to ask what he had heard, the traveler merely followed his friend as they snuck farther into the warehouse.

With their backs against a pillar, the pair saw Lasair ducked down behind a stack of crates not too far off. The men talking were on the other side; if they were quiet, they would be able to make it to their third companion without being seen. Crouching low to the floor, Travis ran from his cover and through the open space before the crates. Diving behind the nearest one, he pulled himself next to the fae and motioned for Lars to follow.

Turning his head to see what Lasair was up to, he saw that the fae held a box containing a crystal ball. Cocking his head in silent question, the red-haired adventurer wondered what purpose the ball served. The fae pointed back to the pillar he had been hiding behind and Travis’ attention shifted to Lars. He hoped that the man would be able to join the othe two without being seen. Though just what they would do when he did was still a mystery to him…

[Taskmienster]

Lars laughed at the little fairy. She was, as far as he could tell at least, innocently promiscuous without meaning to be so. The exchange between the two lasted almost no time at all, and pretty soon the little woman was on to her next scattered train of thought. The hacker sighed as he moved to take notice of the change in scenery. Though the buildings were larger, more solid in their design, they were bland and without any real definition. “I’m no noble warrior,” the hacker said with a cackle as the little woman started to move jovially through the streets. “But so far this has turned out interesting, might as well follow the little fae, huh Travis?”

The hacker and his redheaded companion followed after where their guide had run off. It was not easy to keep up with her, and despite the empty streets she had all but disappeared. Ethan watched as his companion took off ahead of him, leaving the hacker to stroll at his leisure behind. He was in no rush, if the server continued to act as it had since he had arrived there was bound to be some form of trouble right around the next corner. Sure enough, as soon as he turned the corner he saw the scene that was to be his next unwanted adventure.

Behind a couple of crates, on the edge of a darkened alleyway, Lasair was crouching. Her interest was focused on something before her, within the shadows. Travis was ducking and dodging in a peculiar fashion in order to join the woman. What the two were hiding from had not yet become apparent to the hacker. He picked up his gait and sprinted as quietly as possible to the side of the building before him, laying flat against it. Whispers echoed through the alley, muted words spoken in hushed and hurried tones. There were people, but how many he could not tell.

By the time the crouched and slow Lars joined the other two the woman was holding a small orb. Why? He had no clue but did not doubt that there was little reason beyond she had found it. The curious object was lavish but simplistic, pure and pristine against the backdrop of the decrepit city streets. What price it would fetch, and how rare a treat to find something so easily taken. But it would have to wait, for the interest of the small party was what was going on within the alleyway. “Umm… Doll,” Ethan whispered to the fae, “I know it’s pretty and fits your style, but I think we have other matters to tend to at the moment.”

He looked over the crates at the pair negotiating, daggers slipping into either hand just in case.


((It's been a while, I apologize))

[Taskmienster]

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