Shopping

[DarkStorm]

Steel grey clouds obscured the sky, slowly shedding snowflakes over the already whited landscape. While his son obviously loved the snow, Aiden couldn't help but wish he was back in the temperate Donnalaich of Dheathain. They had come here, to Salvar, for only one reason; to obtain a pair of Prevalida Bracers for Chance. Over time, they had gathered enough ingredients for the Fae Crystal Manipulators in the Crystal Square to craft the boy a pair of Ice Crystals. Their goal now was to procure the bracers so that the Fae could insert the Crystals into them.

Nearby, Chance played in the snow, his small hands already turning blue with the cold. Though Aiden had given him a warm coat to wear while in Salvar, the boy had no interest in it. The boy's sandy blond hair was ruffled in a sudden breeze, and the steadily falling snow became a white curtain momentarily, before dissipating again.

A sign creaked ahead, swinging above a shop door. The sign was shaped like a Crusader's shield, tapering to a point at the bottom, but curving out toward the top. On the front of the sign, a long handled hammer rested against a cracked anvil. The sign read "The King's Armory."

His hand closed on the doorknob, and pulled the door open. Turning, he shouted to chance through the billowing snow. "Come on, buddy!"

Obeying without question, the six year old ran to catch up to his father. The snow had gathered on his shoulders, and he stopped before entering the shop and began to brush it off. Aiden helped by running his hand over his son's head, causing the snow in his hair to fall away. When he was no longer covered in the white powder, Aiden shoo'ed him inside, and followed.

"Gimme your gold, buddy." Aiden said to his son.

[Chance]

"Kay kay." Chance responded, and fished the leather sack from his pocket. Smiling, he handed it up to his father.

Following as his father walked off into the depths of the shop, the boy looked around at the armor and weapons as they passed by them. He knew that they were there for a kind of armor, so all the weapons that his eyes fell on continued down the stream of his consciousness, and passed out of 'sight', like a river curving around a bend. When his eyes fell on a blue suit of armor, Chance reached out and pulled on his father's coat sleeve.

"You said what you wanted was blue, right dad?" When Aiden nodded, Chance pointed out the blue suit of armor.

Looking for a pair of small Prevalida Bracers for Chance. Going to pay for it with the gold from both accounts (DarkStorm and Chance.) Whatever is left over should remain on DarkStorm's account.

[Moonlit Raven]

The day had been long and dull for Erin. Grumbling to herself, she wondered if anyone was going to enter. Even if it was only to say hi. At the chime of the bell Erin perked up. Standing up on tip toes she peaked over the stacks at the people entering. A grin lit up her thirty something face as she hurried down to the end of the counter.

“Good day! Come in, come in. Make sure you close that door behind you; it wouldn’t do to let in a cool breeze now would it? What can I do for ya?” Finishing her rambling greeting she smiled at the father son duo.

Straightening as if remembering something she turn and walked down to her normal place of waiting. A few moments later Erin walked over to the pair, a plate of still warm cookies in her hands.

"Have a few. There's nothing like a fresh hot cookie to warm you up on a cold day now is there?"

Wow, I got that out fast.^^

[Chance]

Chance grinned and all but launched himself at the cookies, and had several in hand and one in face before Aiden even got a word out. The heat warmed him as he ate, a welcome relief from the cold outside. He loved the snow, but not nearly so much as he loved cookies.

"Hello!" Aiden replied to the woman, a smile lighting his face. "And yeah, it is more than a little cold out there. Chance, run back and make sure the door is closed, could ya?"

Still holding multiple cookies, the boy nodded and ran back. Leaning against the door, the boy heard the hatch lock into place; proof that they had accidentally left the door ajar. Turning, the boy ran back to his father's side.

"We're looking for a pair of Bracers for Chance, specifically Prevalida, if you have it." Aiden was saying. "We've spent the last few weeks scavenging some materials for Crystal Synthesizing in Dheathain, and now that we have everything we need, we are going to have two Ice magic enhancing Crystals made for my son, to help him learn to control his gift. The thing is, we need something to put the Crystals into so he won't lose them, like he does with everything else."

"Hey!" Chance squeaked indignantly. "I don't lose stuff!"

Aiden smiled and tossled his hair, but otherwise didn't respond to him. "Hence the Prevalida Bracers... I've been told that Prevalida is a strong metal, and also helps to channel arcane energies?"

[Moonlit Raven]

"Of course you don't lose anything, do ya hon? Things just get miss placed, that or they grow legs and walk away. Just the other day I lost my favorite pair of scissors. I simply know I had laid them on the table beside me. The next thing I know the little bugger had gone and disappeared on me." Erin chuckled.

"There I go again, jabbering away when you and your Pa want to buy something." Erin hurried back behind the counter, she placed the plate of cookies close enough to the edge for the boy to reach. Fumbling about and muttering to herself she eventually pulled out a large, heavy book.

"Prevalida..." Her voice faded out to a soft drone as she flipped through the pages. Several minutes she found what she was looking for with a loud exclamation.

"Here we go, my loves. Oosh, quite pricey this metal is." Erin waved to the boy.

"Come here, sweetheart. Let me measure out your arms."

[Chance]

Chance smiled as the woman spoke of things growing legs and walking away. He had come to suspect that this was exactly what had been happening to his stuff. His father believed differently, but parents never understood.

When she requested him to come around the counter, he finished stuffing what remained of a third cookie into his mouth, then brushed his hands off on his pants before walking around the edge of the counter. He was careful to watch the edge; his ear still ached from the incident at the Inn only a few days ago. He had been running and playing as he always did, but hadn't seen the counter until he had crashed into it. His ear had been split open, and the stitches that held the wound closed now itched. He reached up and touched it cautiously as he edged around the corner of the counter, then dropped his hand as he made his way to stand beside the woman.

"Hi! I'm Chance." The boy said, the excitement in his voice mirroring how he bounced around. The cookies had already begun their work of making him hyper. "What's your name? What do you do here? Did you make all these things, and how?"

He held one of his willowy arms out as he grinned, a tiny bit of chocolate smeared on his lower lip.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin caught the boy's self conscious touch to his ear. When his hand lowered she winched in sympathy.

"Poor thing, what on earth happened to your ear?" The flood of questions made her smile. Unable to resist any urge, as usual, she pulled the boy into a tight hug.

"My name is Erin, I own this shop. The most of the items in here I don't make myself. Things made out of metal I have a helper, John, make them. Other items it just depends, my dear."

Pulling a tape measure out of a near by drawer, Erin quickly measured the width and length of the Chance's forearms. She jotted down the measurements on a piece of paper, before draping the measuring tape around her neck. With a playful swat to his rump she sent Chance back to the other side of the counter.

"Let me see, my he's a slender thing. Prevailda bracers would normally run you somewhere around 900 gold. Since he's so little, I'll let you have the bracers for, oh, how does 850 sound?"

[Ataraxis]

“Y-You c-couldn’t wait f-for me, c-could you?” came her tremulous voice, the girl creeping into the shop, looking like the some sort of anorexic snow beast. Issuing a quaint ‘oops’ as she drew in tufts of snow from the streets, she gave little outward kicks to the white mounds before closing the door, hearing the terse click of the bolt. The girl was a pitiable sight, with nothing on her bluish shoulders but a flimsy white dress.

Looking daggers at Aiden, she turned grumpily and huffed. The man had left her to deal with the stable boy who tended to their horses, thinking that if she could work that charm of hers, she could thaw the hoarfrost of his insolent heart, and they wouldn’t have to tip him for his services, so enamored that he would be for the girl. This was wishful thinking at best, she had thought, but the reason why she didn’t want to speak to the man was because he had been astoundingly right.

“H-Hello!” she said hastily, her belated greeting to the shop owner the result of her partially frozen brain. The woman was busy measuring the boy’s arms, and Lillian, as timid as ever, simply stood back and watched from afar, the warmth of the room slowly melting the snow crest atop her little head. Cold water drizzled down her scalp, making her shiver and release a mouse’s yelp. “S-Sorry.”

She would wait until the shopkeep was done with the measurements before enquiring about articles of her own. She loved the Cillu dirk that hung at her rope belt dearly, but it was rather unwieldy when she needed swiftness and precision. As such, she was going to ask for a pair of smaller daggers, hopefully made of the same sturdy material that would be used for Chance’s bracers.

[DarkStorm]

Aiden smiled as the kindly woman pulled his son into a sympathetic hug and asked about his ear. He still remembered the accident vividly. The boy had been stunned and hurt by the collision with the table, and Aiden had spent the better part of the following hour cleaning the wound and comforting his son. Though he had been through so much in his short life, the sight of blood, especially his own, scared the little boy terribly. He listened with a smile as Chance told the woman all about it.

"I was playing! I ran into a table. It hurt. Who's John? Is he a Draconian? I met a Draconian in Dheathain! And I got these!" Chance reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the Snow Bugs he always kept with him. It was beyond Aiden's understanding, how the boy always kept them in his pocket, and yet, never squished them when he sat, or ran, or rolled around on the ground as he frequently did in his playing. The small white puff ball quivered in his hand, emitting quiet squeaks as the boy showed it off. "Hi Lillian! This is Erin! She's nice and funny and gave me cookies and they're good! They're over there!"

When his son had finally run out of breath, Aiden jumped in quickly to get out his response before the boy started again. "850 is fine. We appreciate it a lot. And is there any way you could put an inscription on them? A single name on each of them?"

Chance bounced happily out from around the counter, snatching another handful of cookies as he did so. Aiden shook his head and grinned. The boy would be a handful for the rest of the day. He had every intention of making Lillian watch him, while he ran amok and casually, accidentally, destroyed anything he touched.

[Moonlit Raven]

A second chime of the door's bell drew Erin's attention. Looking up she gawked at the girl near the door for a moment. Her normally cheerful expression darkened until she was frowning.

"Missy, you'd better come over here near the heating stove before you catch you death of cold. Why just look at you, white as Lord Death himself." Muttering to herself about the silliness of youth. Slightly mollified by the fact that the girl knew Chance's father Erin leveled him with a disapproving stare. The thought that a father should take care of both his son and his daughter equally passed through her mind. Erin bit back the urge to tell the man that bit of common sense.

"Having a word engraved into each bracer would be no problem. No extra charge." Erin's voice was a little distant. A vast change from the normally cheerful woman.

[DarkStorm]

"She's right Lillian." Aiden smirked. "You look like your parents were both made of Flour."

Turning his attention back to Erin, he smiled. "I'm Aiden by the way. And thank you. Chance, what were those two words that you read about, and told me you liked?"

"Hoarfrost and Hailstorm!" Chance replied. Somehow, he had sidled up to Lillian, and handed her a cookie. Aiden knew what was coming, but by the time he had opened his mouth to stop the boy, it was too late. Having taken the cookie from the young boy, she had left a strategical gap in her defenses. Chance's hand rose, and pinched her bottom.

[Ataraxis]

Even though the shop owner had spoken out of kindness, Lillian had automatically stood at attention, her back stiffer than a board as she nodded frantically, sprinkling frigid powder over the floorboards. “Y-Yes ma’am!” With taut, scissoring strides, she took for the aforementioned heat stove, feeling a wave of delectable heat wash over her, feeling like the strangest mix of summer sunlight and the splashing waves on the coastline. “Oh, this feels wonderful,” she moaned almost inappropriately, shame rushing to her cheeks when she realized it. It was only then that she saw Chance handing her a cookie, and without her usual suspicion, she took it with joy.

“Oh!” She squealed, almost dropping what she had been given, sensing pain in a place that wasn’t accustomed to the feeling. Jumping where she stood, Lillian spun to look at the little boy, this perverse devil that never missed a moment to fondle her. In the span of three days, it had stolen her first two kisses, groped her bosom at least thrice and had now proceeded further downward. “Why you little bag tart!” she hissed, her arm reaching out to his nose, but the little devil was quick on his feet and had already skittered away, leaving her red and raving. In anger, she devoured the cookie whole, chewing it down difficulty.

When she had calmed down, Lillian turned back, still wary for any suspicious shadow or sound around her, letting both arms droop at her sides and her hands bend slightly to cover her bottom. A safety measure. Unknowingly, she had walked near the counter, where the dish of baked goods Chance had mentioned was still steaming a delightful effluvium, one that smoothly intruded her nostrils and tickled her fancy. They had been used to trick her, but that bitter taste notwithstanding, they were righteously delicious, and she wouldn’t be shy about taking one or two more.

As she reached for the platter, she asked the shopkeep about her future purchase, almost as an afterthought. “Oh, I’d like to get something for myself too, if that’s not a problem!” It logically shouldn’t be, considering how this was the very nature of her work. She knew it well, but she was exaggeratedly courteous with strangers, to the point where the words she put to her thoughts never quite matched. “I’d like a set of throwing daggers, if possible! Very small ones, blade and handle crafted from a single piece of metal, with jagged edges so that once they’ve pierced something, they’re harder to take out. Oh, and I’d like the handles to have holes in them, enough for my fingers to fit!”

“Oh, and how many could I get for a 270 gold coins, if I want them to be made with Prevalida?” She hoped that she could get at least two, but at worse, she would be ready to pay the difference.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin shook a playful finger at Chance as he darted away from the girl.

"Now now, one of these days that sort of tom foolery will get you into trouble. Besides, its not nice to grope that young lady, or any lady of any type." Erin smiled and returned to her book. She flipped one page and immediately found what she was looking for.

"A small dagger made of prevalida will run you right at 360. Oosh, what a cost for just one little dagger. The make of it won't be a problem for John. As I keep telling the man, he could turn out a sword fit for a god even if all he has is brass." Closing her book she padded down to the end of the counter. Leaning against it she grabbed one of the still warm cookies.

"I could recommend several other metals. The majority are strong but not as strong as prevalida. I know of one metal that is stronger but the cost of it would make a king flinch." Erin smiled kindly at her customers before she took a bite out of her cookie.

[Ataraxis]

It may have been inappropriate to gawk, but at mention of a single dagger’s price, Lillian couldn’t help herself. How could something so small that she could fit twice in her palm cost so much? The design she had in mind was in fact so minuscule she though the Prevalida from a single one of Chance’s bracers would be enough to forge at least a quintet of the weapons. The girl sighed, tapping nervously at her money pouch, wondering if she would pay for two. It wasn’t that she was a cheapskate, but… no, she was a cheapskate.

“I know!” she exclaimed in a thunder of triumph, the gears of her mind having reeled in harmony to find some sort of budgetary escape. “Would it be possible to split the dagger in half? I needed at least two to throw for what I have in mind, and since I don’t think I have enough money for that, buying a single one that can be divided symmetrically would be the next best thing!” Lillian hoped she was a good enough liar, and hoped even more dearly that the woman would find it in her heart to do her this small favor. “I think it’s a viable design, if it uses a basic clamping mechanism on the tang. Nothing too fancy!”

“I’m sorry for being so picky, though. I just really want to try out what I have in mind!” Her chin was lowered, and her fingers were nervously knit together. She was afraid the shopkeep was already fed up with her, a prospect that gave her an awfully downcast demeanor.

[DarkStorm]

Sorting his gold, Aiden made several stacks of twenty coins, until he had gathered Erin's requested sum. Smiling, he pushed it across the counter top to her, being careful not to scuff it. When he was done he hefted the bag, tied it shut, and tossed it to Lillian.

"That should help." Turning his attention back to the shopkeeper he indicated the Bracers. "Anyways... Hoarfrost on one, and Hailstorm on the other. And we appreciate your helpfulness. It's nice to meet a merchant that is willing to cut you some slack, rather than try to steal everything in your coin purse."

Aiden tried desperately to ignore Chance. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the boy scooting sneakily toward Lillian again.

[Moonlit Raven]

Erin turned and drew out a sheet of paper. Quickly sketching out the bracers and jotting down notes on the side.

"You said Hoarfrost and Hailstorm on them? Curious words, but you're the customer." Erin tittered to herself as she made the last few notes for Chance's bracers. Scooping up the gold she placed it aside carefully.

"No worries, love. You know what you want. The new design would be a bit of a challenge for John but I'm sure he can work it out. The idea for a split dagger is a clever one." Erin grinned. She noticed Chance's creeping back towards the girl and shook her head a little. Catching Lillian's gaze she tilted her head towards Chance's direction in a subtle warning.


"Right then, Chance, you and your father need to return in three days. Your bracers will be finished at that time. Sweetie, I'll need half of the gold for the dagger up front. Your dagger, or it is daggers? Mmm... any who your item will be done the same day as Chance's."



Just split your next post and write in your characters returning three days later. The bracers for Chance are wearable for the time being. As he ages and grows the bracers will have to be reforged into a larger size or sold.

[DarkStorm]

Aiden smiled, and nodded his understanding to Erin. "Yeah... But the boy wants what the boy wants." He shrugged. The words made little sense to him either, but Chance had said that's what he wanted them named.

"Thank you, Erin. We'll be back in three days."

Before they left, Chance ran over to the woman and gave her a tight hug. On his way back to the door where Aiden waited, he snatched another cookie from the counter.

Outside, the snow still swept over the landscape.

In case the last post wasn't understood, what's left of my gold goes toward Lillian's purchase. I'll lose all gold, and she'll receive a discount of the same amount.

[Chance]

The day had dawned cold and bitter, the wind still whipping snow about like a frozen lash. Bundled as they were, Chance and Aiden felt little of it, but still enough to hurry through the swirling torrents of white. Remembering how cold it had been the last few days, the boy had actually followed his father's advice this time, and had worn the small, fur lined coat.

This time, Chance was the first one into the shop. When the door had closed behind him and his father, the boy leaned over and shook his head like a dog just out of a storm. Snow fell like a curtain from his sandy blond hair. He grinned as he straightened, then ran toward the counter, obviously looking for more cookies.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeerin!" Chance called, standing on his toes to look over the counter.

[Ataraxis]

With a smile, Lillian accepted her friend’s money pouch, knowing that the man had never been a fan of finances and economies. As long as he had enough for food and travel, all was good in the world. Still, Lillian would not use all of it. She was greedy with her money, but not with that of her closest companions.

Lillian couldn’t hide her glee when the woman called her clever, and felt very much like a student who’d been praised by her teacher. Seeing the uncharacteristic tilting of her head, however, reminded her of a danger that she could feel creeping in the small of her back. Before Chance could even attempt anything, Lillian had spun the face him, the frills of her dress in counterpoint to the elegant sway of her hips. The boy was positively disappointed that his approach had been discovered. To further taunt him, she stuck out her tongue and hummed in derision.

“Oh, right!” she tilted, and scuttled to the counter. Rummaging through her own bag, she picked out three Salvaran doubloons, each with a value of fifty gold coins, as well as another handful of smaller disks for the remaining thirty pieces, and placed them carefully on the wooden counter. “That’s 180, I believe!” She still had a total value of ninety gold coins that had been given to her after her last visit in the Citadel, which she planned to use for her scheduled return at the King’s Armory. “Thank you again, ma’am!” Chance had told her the shopkeep’s name was Erin, but the girl was too timid to casually call an adult by her first name. With a wave, she turned back and took for the door, shivering from the emergent cold as she walked over the doorsill.


It had been three days already, spent mind-numbingly near the hearth fire of an inn, where she had curled under a fur blanket and vegetated in a lethargic bliss. She only worked up the strength to move when her stomach growled agony or when she needed the bathroom, but most of the time she endured the pain until breaking point. Today, however, she had no difficulty getting off that velvety couch and discarding a blanket she had come to love dearly. It was, after all, the day she would finally have her daggers!

Chance had darted into the store before all others, and Lillian was close in pursuit, her little head peeking from behind the gaping door. “Hello? Madam… erh… Erin?”

[Moonlit Raven]

The chime of the door's bell caught Erin by surprise. Flushing and hastily shoving the book she was reading on to a shelf behind the counter she turned to greet her customers. A wide smile split her face at the sight of the children.

"Hello, my ducks. How have you been these last three days? You are just in luck John finished the bracers and dagger just a hour ago. I have them waiting for you here." Accepting the rest of the girls gold she inspected the voucher and shook her head, muttering about paper money under her breath.



Chance loses 450 gold and gains prevalida bracers. Darkstorm loses 600 gold. Ataraxis loses 360 gold (270 voucher and 90 gold) gains prevalida dagger(s) and gains 110 gold from Darkstorm. Chance, DarkStorm and Ataraxis gain 100 EXP for good IC interactions.

As stated before the bracers for Chance must be sold or reforged upon out growing of char as he is a child and the bracers were sized to a child.