Czlaplon Quest

[arcomniflash]

A little shaken by the trip there, I'll be content to move towards Shaliko and Mekhitar without actually saying anything. I don't like looming, but it's something that Horror Stalkers seem to just fall into naturally. Taking in the view of the riverboat, I'll wait for Mehkitar to finish his performance and give him a gentle clap when he does so. Obviously this is somehow part of his negotiation with the officer, so it'd be best not to interrupt. Once it looks like the performance is coming to an end I'll move a little further forward towards them, trying to listen in to the negotiations as much as anything else.

- Isaac

[ToranaVameha]

Out of character, I don't remember the last time I was even in this city, let alone whether or not I ever went to the beast market here. Anyway, I'll just go along with Gudrun and bring Andine with us. Once we're there, I'll more or less follow Timothy's lead since he knows more of what he needs than I do. As long as he's not after anything too expensive or impractical, at least. I'm not buying a thundra beast no matter how much he might like one.

[Tarliman]

Isaac: Mekhitar finishes up with a bow. He and the ship's officer speak briefly, then shake hands. You're not close enough yet to hear what was said. By the time you've moved up to where you might be able to overhear, the officer has walked back up the gangplank, and Mekhitar and Shaliko have turned away from the ship. They spot you, Mekhitar waving exuberantly and Shaliko giving you a brief nod. "We have passage to the north!" Mekhitar proclaims. "You're welcome!"

Torana: You, Gudrun, and Timothy make your way to the Beastmarket, over on the southeast side of the city, on an island at the edge where the smells are carried away by the prevailing winds and current, along with the leavings from cleaning out the cages and stalls. The Floating City's Beastmarket is nowhere near as large as that of the Grand Bazaar of Throal, and covers less surface area than the one in Fortetsa Hebo. It's a good deal more crowded, though, with cages stacked atop each other, and people and animals making their way through narrow aisles. Most of the animals aren't here for very long. You see a number of cages being loaded onto a riverboat tied up at the Beastmarket dock. Andine's presence upsets much of the livestock - the birds flutter and squawk, the horses shift restlessly, eyes rolling and ears laid back. Timothy looks at a number of possible mounts - a zoak, a jungle griffin, a gargoyle, a vofoq, a pangolus, and an ice flyer - but in the end wants a blood monkey.

[arcomniflash]

I'll regard Mekhitar for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at Shaliko for secondary confirmation regarding what exactly went on here. When he finishes talking I'll glance at the exuberant vessel behind him. "Alright, thank you." I'll say dryly. "So, a few questions. How much, and how far?" I'll fold my arms, given the size and splendor of the ship, I'm more than ready for this to cost quite an awful lot.

- Isaac

[Tarliman]

Mekhitar grins a bit more widely, and raises an index finger in an "aha!" gesture. "Two silver a day for our larger animals. Three days' delay while they advertise an adventure cruise." He punctuates each sentence with the tip of his finger. "I'll be the cruise director. The rest of you get to mingle with the passengers, tell your stories, demonstrate your abilities - the captain would appreciate it if we could arrange the flashier demonstrations, you know, the ones that require lots of room and might knock things over? On shore when the boat has tied off for the night." Lots of hand gestures. "And if we could manage to fight something not too awfully terrifying, you know, something with lots of teeth and claws but that isn't going to represent any real danger to the boat or the paying customers? That would be just splendid." He raises his hands in a flourish. You can almost hear the "ta dah!" and the instrumental fanfare. "I see this as a win-win situation!"

Shaliko, who has been silent all this time, tips his head sideways with a raised eyebrow and a somewhat diffident expression. "We do get to build our reputations a bit," he says, in a tone that suggests he's just along for the ride at this point.

[arcomniflash]

Narrowing my eye a little, I mutter. "More delays." With a slight derisive snort, followed by a small sigh. "Well, it is far cheaper than anything we could have managed, and for that, I thank you. I'll inform the others." Taking note of the name of the ship, should it be written anywhere on the thing, I'll leave Shaliko and Mekhitar to their own devices for a moment before returning. "You two should hurry back to the inn, we need to discuss plans for the next few days. If we are bound here, then we'd best make use of the time we have." With that I'll head back to the inn myself, hopefully to run into Garsevan, who's so far been left out of pretty much everything and needs to be kept in the loop.

-Isaac

[ToranaVameha]

That's more or less what I had been expecting. I know they're normally in troops, though, and very territorial. As long as it can get into the mindset of the ice flyers just being part of its own troop, I don't think there should be too much trouble. So...time to go and ask about the monkey he's spotted. "How much can you tell me about your blood monkey? Was it caught wild or bred?"

[Tarliman]

Isaac: Pay three silver to get back to the inn or risk a random encounter while traveling through the Floating City.

Torana: The beast seller, an older t'skrang man who's missing a few stray bits (left thumb, right outer toe, chunk of his crest...) grins broadly, revealing some teeth that are missing and others that will be gone soon, based on their condition. "Nobody breeds blood monkeys if'n they got a brain in their head," he says. "Surprised you didn't know that, bein' a Beastmaster an' all that. Nar, this'un wuz caught wild like all'a them. Got a letter here somewheres from th'adept what caught it ..." He starts rummaging through his pockets and a shoulderbag, coming up with partly-mashed animal snacks, bits of stained parchment, and things that you wish he'd left in the bag.

[arcomniflash]

I'm in no rush to get get back this time, certainly not in as much of a hurry as I was in finding Shaliko and Mekhitar. In addition, the ride there was less than pleasant, so this time I think I'll just wander back to the inn through the streets of the city. I can handle myself well enough should anything untoward happen.

- Isaac

[ToranaVameha]

"You'd be surprised what some people manage to do." A letter is surprising...it just reminds me of what happened with Tornike and the letter I left about her. Maybe this is something similar...and even if it isn't, the fact that there's a letter at all probably means it's important, so I'll wait.